The American football team Atlanta Falcons was founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1965 and joined the NFL Eastern Conference, with Norb Hecker as coach. They soon moved to the NFC West division, and in 2002 to NFC South. Their home stadiums have been the Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (1966–1991), the Georgia Dome (1992–2016), and Mercedes-Benz Stadium (since 2017).
The Falcons had little success at first and did not qualify for the postseason playoffs until 1978. They were NFC West champions in 1980 and 1998, and in 1998 played in the Super Bowl XXXIII match, losing to Denver Broncos.
The decade of the 2000s featured star player Michael Vick and was marred by criminal charges against him. Falcons finished top of NFC South in 2004, 2010 and 2012, and reached Super Bowl LI in 2016, where they lost to the New England Patriots.
1965–1969 The Atlanta Falcons franchise began when it was approved to begin play in 1966 by a unanimous vote of the NFL club owners on June 21, 1965."NFL Votes Franchise To Atlanta," The Associated Press (AP), Tuesday, June 22, 1965. Retrieved February 24, 2023. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle granted ownership nine days later on June 30 to Rankin M. Smith Sr., the executive vice president of Life Insurance Company of Georgia. The name Falcons was suggested by Julia Elliott (1909–1990), a high school teacher from Griffin, Georgia who won a contest in 1965. Though 40 other contestants had also suggested the name, Elliott wrote in an essay, "The falcon is proud and dignified, with great courage and fight. It never drops its prey. It's deadly and has a great sporting tradition." Among the many suggested names were the Knights, Bombers, Rebels, Crackers, Confederates, Thrashers (which would later be the name of the city's second NHL team), Lancers, Firebirds, Fireballs, and Thunderbirds."Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 19, 1990 -- "Miss Julia Elliott, 80, retired teacher; gave Falcons their team name", NFL Football Tickets
Rankin M. Smith Sr. would draft Tommy Nobis, LB, University of Texas with the first pick of the 1966 NFL draft held on November 27, 1965, making him the first ever Falcon. Early speculation on the team's first head coach focused on a host of tutors: former University of Oklahoma head coach Bud Wilkinson; University of Arkansas head coach Frank Broyles; former San Francisco 49ers head coach Red Hickey; and former Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown; and Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi were all considered or courted. In the end, Smith selected Lombardi's assistant Norb Hecker on January 26, 1966.
The Atlanta Falcons began their first NFL season in the NFL Eastern Conference, playing a "swing schedule", consisting of playing every other team once, in order to make up for the disparity of an odd number of teams. Their first game (preseason) was on August 1, 1966, against the Philadelphia Eagles before a crowd of 26,072 at the Atlanta Stadium. The Falcons would lose against the Eagles and would lose their first nine games in the regular season before finally getting their first franchise win on the road against the New York Giants, 27–16. Former Giant Ernie Wheelwright scored two touchdowns receiving and ran for 51 more yards as QB Randy Johnson hit for a trio of TD's. Their first ever home victory was against the St. Louis Cardinals, 16–10 to a crowd of 57,169. The Falcons ended their inaugural season at 3–11, yet Nobis won the NFL Rookie of the Year Award and became the first Falcon named to the Pro Bowl.
The 1967 season was no better as the Falcons exited their second season with only 1 win and a 1–12–1 season. After a dreadful 0–3 start in the 1968 season, Norm Van Brocklin, formerly head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, was named to replace Norb Hecker on October 1. Two weeks later, his Falcons beat New York 24–21, in the first meeting between Van Brocklin and his former QB, Fran Tarkenton. Despite the win, the Falcons would still finish with an abysmal 2–12 record. Although the first three seasons for the Falcons were dreadful, the Falcons turned things around in 1969. On September 21, the Falcons won their first season opener ever, beating the San Francisco 49ers, 24–12, before their home fans. Rookie tight end Jim Mitchell scored two TDs and the Falcons set a team record with 229 yards rushing. On December 7, Harmon Wages threw for a TD in the first quarter (16 yards to Paul Flatley), caught a pass for a TD in the second quarter (88 yards), and then ran for a TD in the fourth quarter (66 yards) in a 45–17 rout of the Saints. The Falcons finished the year with a vastly improved 6–8 record.
1970–1974 The Falcons would have their first Monday Night Football game in Atlanta during the 1970 season on November 30, when they played the Miami Dolphins. The Falcons would end up losing 20–7 in front of an audience of 30 million TV viewers. The Falcons would end up going 4–8–2 for the 1970 season. Atlanta would have their first winning season in 1971. On November 22, the Falcons won their first nationally televised game with a 28–21 triumph over the Green Bay Packers in Atlanta. The Falcons would enter their final game of the season in New Orleans on December 19 with a 6–6–1 record, needing to beat the Saints to have their first winning record. The Falcons beat New Orleans, 24–20, with 40 seconds left in the game. The victory gave the Falcons a then-franchise best 7–6–1 record. In 1972, the Falcons finished 7-7.
The Falcons opened the 1973 season against New Orleans, smashing 35 team records en route to a 62–7 victory on September 16. Despite opening the season with a huge win, the Falcons would only manage to score 15 total points in the next 3 games, all of which they lost. The Falcons came back and won 7 in a row, including a victory against the unbeaten Vikings, 20–14, on November 19 before a national television audience. Dave Hampton once again barely missed the 1,000 yard mark for the season. The Falcons finished 9–5 for their best record ever up to that point, but lost out on the playoffs by one game.
1974 saw the Falcons collapse to a 3–11 record.
1975–1984: Steve Bartkowski era In 1975, with the first pick in the NFL draft, the club selected quarterback Steve Bartkowski of the University of California. The Falcons finished the year with a 4–10 record, but Dave Hampton finally broke the 1,000 yard mark (1,002) in a 22–13 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Bartkowski would continue to struggle in 1976, throwing only 2 TDs while being picked off 9 times. Bartkowski was then replaced by Kim McQuilken, who fared no better, throwing 9 interceptions in three games. Because of the abysmal season, Coach Marion Campbell resigned. Pat Peppler would replace him, and the Falcons would go on to finish at 4–10. In 1977, former Redskins and Cowboys quarterback Eddie LeBaron was named general manager, and Leeman Bennett became the fifth head coach in club history. The following season, the Falcons' "Grits Blitz" defense (led by defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville) set an NFL record for the fewest points allowed in a 14-game season, with 129. They also set the record for the fewest points allowed per game for the year with 9.2 (a mark that not even the 1985 Bears defense could match). However, due to the team's lackluster offense (which averaged less than 13 points per game), the Falcons finished with a 7–7 record.
1978 Led by a strong defense, the team finished the 1978 season with a 9–7 record, qualifying for the postseason for the first time in franchise history. The season featured several dramatic comebacks, including two victories over rival New Orleans by identical 20-17 scores. In the playoffs, they met a team that didn't make the playoffs in a number of years, the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite falling behind 13–0, the Bartkowski-led Falcons came back to take a 14–13 lead, which held up after a chip-shot Eagles FG attempt sailed wide right with seconds remaining. Their next encounter would be with the heavily favored Dallas Cowboys. Despite knocking out Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach and taking a 20–13 lead into halftime, the offense would only collect 85 net yards in the second half as the Cowboys, led by backup QB Danny White, came back and won 27–20. White would come back to haunt the Falcons yet again two years later.
1979 The Falcons were unable to carry the previous year's momentum into 1979, though, finishing 6–10. Records were broken for the season by William Andrews with 1,023 rushing yards, by Wallace Francis with 74 catches for 1,013 receiving yards, and by Steve Bartkowski with 2,502 passing yards (203 completions out of 379 attempts).
1980 1980 was a successful season for the Falcons, as they finished 12–4. While the season started at 3–3, Atlanta went on to record a 9-game winning streak. Bartkowski threw for three touchdowns on December 14 as the Falcons defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 35–10 to win their first-ever NFC West division title. In the Divisional Playoffs, the Falcons lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 30–27, as the Cowboys rallied for 20 points in Atlanta before a then-record crowd of 59,793, including a game-winning touchdown pass from Danny White to Drew Pearson with less than a minute to play. This loss is widely cited as one of the most devastating losses in Atlanta sports history (even more so than the Super Bowl loss to Denver in 1998), as many fans and the team itself took almost a decade to recover.
1981–1984 The 1981 season was plagued with injuries as the Falcons lost 3 key starters for the season. The Falcons would lose six games by less than a touchdown and finish with a 7–9 record.
In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Falcons finished 5-4 and returned to the (expanded) playoffs, but lost to Minnesota 30–24 in the first round. In 1983, the Falcons finished 7–9.
In 1984, the Falcons suffered a huge loss when RB William Andrews suffered a career-threatening knee injury on the last day of training camp. He would be sidelined for 2 years before returning for the 1986 season, only to retire soon after.
1985–1989 Gerald Riggs would replace him in the lineup, as Riggs was a bright spot in amassing over 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns in those two seasons. However, the Falcons would finish with back-to-back 4–12 records for the 1984 and 1985 campaigns. After an average 7–8–1 season in 1986, where David Archer succeeded Steve Bartkowski as starting QB, head coach Dan Henning was dumped and replaced by Marion Campbell.
In 1987, Campbell did nothing to reverse the Falcons losing and they would finish their season with a 3–12 record, including losing 9 out of their last 10 games upon their return from the strike of that season. The 1988 season would also be awful as the Falcons would finish with a 5–11 season.
1988 would start with Atlanta drafting first overall, a pick they used to select Auburn linebacker Aundray Bruce, most notably bypassing perennial All-Pro DE Neil Smith, who went second overall to the Kansas City Chiefs. Settling in with 1987's first round selection Chris Miller as their new starting QB, Atlanta proceeded to lose seven out of their first 8 games. The Falcons were able to salvage their season somewhat with a stretch where they won 4 games out of 5, including a road win over the playoff-bound Eagles, but lost their last 3 games to finish 5–11 for the season.