On June 30, 1965 the NFL granted a franchise to Atlanta , moving into the Deep South
for the first time and outmaneuvering the rival American Football League to do
so. Originally, it had appeared that the AFL would be putting a club in Atlanta , and Commissioner
Joe Foss had stated as much. The President of Cox Broadcasting Company, Leonard
Reinsch, was to be the owner (he had also looked into the possibility of moving
the Denver Broncos to Georgia ).
However, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle acted quickly to line up an ownership
group headed by insurance executive Rankin Smith that paid $8.5 million for the
franchise. The new Atlanta Stadium was secured for Smith’s group, and the chastened
younger league was forced to look elsewhere (settling on Miami ).
It was a major coup for the city that had also lured major
league baseball’s Braves from Milwaukee
and generated much initial fan excitement. A radio station contest came up with
the name Falcons for the new team and 45,000 season tickets were sold within a
few weeks of becoming available. Former player and scout Gene Cronin was chosen
as director of player personnel while Norb Hecker, defensive backfield coach
under Vince Lombardi in Green Bay ,
became the first head coach.
A draft of veterans from the other NFL clubs brought mostly
marginal talent, since each team was able to protect its best players. The
draft of college players was more promising as the Falcons were able to pick at
the top and bottom of the first five rounds, as well as the top of the remaining
rounds, giving them 25 choices in all. With the first overall choice, they took
LB Tommy Nobis (pictured at top), the Outland Trophy winner out of Texas .
The Falcons were placed in the Eastern Conference for the
’66 season, but because the league now had an uneven number of teams with 15,
they played each of the other NFL teams one time apiece (a so-called swing
schedule, as opposed to the usual arrangement of playing a home-and-away series
with each conference opponent).
It had been anticipated that Dennis Claridge, who had thrown
a total of one pro pass as backup to Bart Starr and Zeke Bratkowski in Green Bay , would be Atlanta ’s
first starting quarterback. However, rookie Randy Johnson (pictured at right), their second pick at
the end of the first round out of Texas A&I, gained the job instead and performed
reasonably well while completing 43.7 % of his passes for 1795 yards with 12
touchdowns and 21 interceptions.
Another ex-Packer, HB Junior Coffey, was the club’s rushing
star with 722 yards on 199 carries (3.6 avg.) and four TDs. He teamed with FB
Ernie Wheelwright, formerly of the Giants, who added 458 yards on the ground,
but neither had breakaway speed and depth behind them was lacking. 29-year-old
flanker Alex Hawkins, a long-time reserve and special teams standout with the
Colts, was Atlanta ’s
leading receiver with 44 catches for 661 yards (15.0 avg.) and two scores. TE
Billy Martin, who split time with ex-Card Taz Anderson , pulled in 29 passes, one more than
starting split end Vern Burke. Center Frank Marchlewski showed promise and
starting guards Dan Grimm and Ed Cook and tackles Don Talbert and Errol Linden
did reasonably well, although once again, depth was an issue.
On defense, Nobis stepped into the lineup at middle
linebacker and had an immediate impact, gaining Rookie of the Year honors and
selection to the Pro Bowl. But while OLB Marion Rushing was effective on the
strong side, the weak side linebacking – held down by over-the-hill veterans
Bill Jobko and Larry Morris – was lacking. The line was undistinguished and
contained the team’s oldest player, 35-year-old DE Sam Williams. Starting
cornerbacks were Lee Calland and Ron Smith, better known for his kick
returning. FS Bob Riggle did well in tandem with SS Jerry Richardson, who led
the club with five interceptions.
Lou Kirouac handled the bulk of the placekicking and was
successful on just half of his field goal attempts (9 of 18) and missed five of
24 extra point tries. Punter Billy Lothridge was better, averaging 40.7 yards
on his 73 kicks.
The Falcons lost their first nine games but won three of
their last five to finish on a reasonably high note – and ahead of the 1-12-1
Giants (the team they defeated for their first regular season win). Not
surprisingly, the team ranked at the bottom of the league in total offense
(3536 yards) and scoring (204 points) while giving up the most points (437).
Still, fan support was enthusiastic, and there were hopes for improvement in
’67 based on the club’s improved play in the late season.
Instead, the club regressed and won just one game. Coach
Hecker failed to survive a third year at the helm in 1968, giving way to Norm
Van Brocklin, previously the head coach in Minnesota following his Hall of Fame career
as a quarterback. The Dutchman guided the Falcons to their first winning record
in 1971, but they would not appear in the postseason for the first time until
1978.
