My Open Letter to the Atlanta? Falcons Concerning a Move to Los Angeles

My Open Letter to the Atlanta? Falcons Concerning a Move to Los Angeles

Dear Birds,

We have had a relationship now for 46 years you and I.

Since your start I have carried you around like they say a guilty pleasure.

When Georgians for the most part have mocked your embarrassing ways I stood by you.

When my wife was a sweet young coed she asked me while on a date once –

“What is the one thing you would like to own in the whole world?’

My answer was –“The Falcons.”

She said “no really?”  I said the Falcons.

Yes I apologize for coveting your team Mr. Blank.

I was in 2^nd grade when I learned we would have a pro ream in 1966.

You had in the early days Tommy Nobis, Ernie Wheelwright, Randy Johnson, Bob Berry, Jim “Cannonball” Butler and Gainesville’s Billy Lothridge plus John Zook, Claude Humphrey and George Kunz.

You quickly fired head coach Norb Hecker, a former Lombardi assistant from Green Bay and hired Norm Van Brocklin who the expansion Vikings did not want anymore.

He irritated the players and got into fist fights with sports writers after games.

You hired and fired and actually finished a season with Pat Peppler as  the coach.

Peppler never coached or to my knowledge even played high school ball.

He was an accountan/general managert or something.

In the mid 1970’s you would often finish games in front of less than 5,000 fans.

You drafted QB Steve Bartowski and hired Leeman Bennett.  Leeman got  us in about three good attempts towards a Super bowl so you fired him.

We went through a couple of coaches with one being a retread.

You gave us Glanville making us seem “The Honey Boo Boo” of NFL franchises.

I remember being mocked by a K- Mart cashier for buying a Falcon hat during those ridiculous days.

I stayed true.

You gave us Jeff George at QB – he attacked his coach on the sideline-enough about him.

You moved your headquarters to Flowery Branch.

You hired the great Dan Reeves who got us to a Super Bowl.

This native Georgian was not “good enough”.

You sold the soul of the franchise for the now infamous coach killer (and dog) from Virginia Tech.
You adopted CFL like uniforms despite having an original good look.

You have since gotten rid of the VT QB and have run a good team.

QB Ryan and Coach Mike Smith are solid.

We were playing in a circle in the Braves infield until the 1990s.

You helped force a Georgia Dome downtown down taxpayers throats so we could host the Olympics.

This Dome was built despite it being –from the FBI - the worst crime neighborhood in America.  (check the throat slashing fan after the 49er playoff game.)

You could not have made it more inconvenient for you fans to get to a game now.  

You refused to go to the suburbs like all NFL stadiums as you played politics to get a sweet deal with the city of Atlanta.

The NFL is unsurpassed in popularity.

I am convinced you could sell out a two stadiums –one north and one south of I-285 with two franchises.

There is no way any new expansion team could do worse in 46 future years.  A new expansion team we would get would be only an improvement over your clownish history.

You say you might leave Atlanta for LA- the Smith family (original owners) used to threaten us with a team move to Jacksonville.

You are descent now and just now deserving of your price.

You now want to gouge the state and charge loyal fans with PLCs (a fee a fan must pay called personal seat licensing to keep buying your same tickets).

If you leave I can say farewell Birds.

Just remember- “It’s you not me” as it is said in breakups.

Farewell if you must,

Fletcher