Age: 28 (Nov. 12)
6th
season in pro football & with Falcons
College: California
Height: 6’4” Weight: 213
Prelude:
The Falcons
traded star OT George Kunz to the Colts to obtain the first overall pick in the
1975 NFL draft in order to select Bartkowski, who passed for 2580 yards as a
senior and was already acclaimed for having a strong throwing arm, although he
was also immobile and strictly a pocket passer. He was immediately inserted
into the starting lineup and received NFC Rookie of the Year honors after
passing for 1662 yards and 13 touchdowns. Bartkowski followed up his promising
rookie year with two poor seasons in 1976 and ’77, missing much time to injury
and playing badly when healthy, and seemed on his way to becoming a major
first-round bust. However, he regained his starting job four weeks into the
1978 season and led the Falcons to the first postseason appearance in franchise
history. He also played well in the Wild Card playoff win over the Eagles and a
near-upset of the Cowboys in the Divisional round. While the team dipped in
’79, Bartkowski continued to improve, throwing for 2505 yards and 17 TDs,
although giving up 20 interceptions.
1980 Season Summary
Appeared in all
16 games
[Bracketed numbers
indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 463
[9]
Most
attempts, game – 47 at St. Louis 11/9
Completions –
257 [11, tied with Ron Jaworski]
Most
completions, game – 31 at St. Louis 11/9
Yards – 3544 [5]
Most yards,
game – 378 at St. Louis 11/9
Completion
percentage – 55.5
Yards per
attempt – 7.7 [6]
TD passes – 31
[1]
Most TD
passes, game – 4 at New Orleans 10/19
Interceptions
– 16 [18, tied with four others]
Most
interceptions, game – 3 at Buffalo 11/2
Passer rating
– 88.2 [4]
300-yard passing
games – 2
200-yard
passing games – 10
Rushing
Attempts – 25
Most
attempts, game – 4 (for 4 yds.) at Buffalo 11/2
Yards – 35
Most yards,
game – 11 yards (on 2 carries) vs. Detroit 10/5
Yards per
attempt – 1.4
TDs – 2
Scoring
TDs – 2
Points – 12
Postseason: 1
G (NFC Divisional playoff vs. Dallas)
Pass attempts
– 33
Pass
completions – 18
Passing
yardage – 320
TD passes – 2
Interceptions
– 1
Awards & Honors:
2nd
team All-NFC: UPI
Pro Bowl
Falcons went 12-4
to finish first in the NFC West. Lost NFC Divisional playoff to Dallas Cowboys
(30-27).
Aftermath:
Bartkowski
had another Pro Bowl year in 1981, throwing for a career-high 3829 yards and tossing
another 30 touchdowns, although the Falcons dropped back to 7-9. He led the NFL
in passing in 1983 (97.6 rating) as he threw for 3167 yards with 22 TDs and
just 5 interceptions and led the league in completion percentage (67.3) in ’84.
However, the team’s performance was dropping off and the effect of taking many
sacks (356 in all) was causing shoulder and knee injuries. After appearing in
just five games in 1985, Bartkowski was dealt to the Rams where he was 4-2 as a
starter in ’86 before knee problems finally finished his career. Overall, he
played 11 years for the Falcons, as well as the one abbreviated season in LA,
and completed 55.9 % of his passes for 24,124 yards with 156 TDs and 144
interceptions. His 23,470 yards and 154 TDs with Atlanta were franchise career
records that were eventually exceeded by Matt Ryan.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
