Official Atlanta Falcons Thread

Thank you! Have fun in Oakland, MeAngelo!

 

I am afraid the only way the Vick-huggers will be quieted will be if Ryan has a spectacular season. And that's if he even plays.

 

No doubt Blank will be pushing for Ryan to start, but hopefully Smith can fend him off at least until the bye week. Unfortunately, the Vick-huggers were never Falcons fans and won't be truly satisfied until Vick plays again, even if it is for another team. I'm just hoping it won't be a division rival.

Wow, that didn't take long. Ryan has already signed a contract. That makes it even more likely that he will be starting sooner rather than later.
http://www.ajc.com/falcons/content/sports/falcons/stories/2008/05/20/ryanburst_0521.html

$72 Million with $34.75 million in guaranteed money. Ouch! I guess Arthur Blank invited him over for lasagna.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/05/20/falcons-sign-ryan/

 

That's a huge investment, hope to God it works out. He and Baker have to end up being good picks or the franchise will be set back for 5 years. Even if Baker ends up being a good RT, that's still better than a bust.

 

How doFalcons fans feel about Michael Vick? Serious question...

 

I think Baker will be okay. He was projected to be the 2nd LT had he come out in the draft last year and dropped due to his injury. All the draftniks nitpicking on short arms are just digging for something negative to say. The guy can play and has done so on a pretty big stage against good competition.

 

Bakers arms are actually 1/2 an inch bigger than Jake Longs...funny how nobody is knocking Long for his arm length.

Baker: 40-5.28, 485 lb bench, 600 lb squat, 33 1/8 arm length, 9 3/4 hands

Long: 40-5.13, 380 lb bench, 520 squat, 32 7/9 arm length, 10 1/4 hands

Clady: 40-5.28, 355 bench, 475 squat, 33 1/8 arm, 9 5/8 hands

Williams: 40-5.33, 425 bench, 500 squat, 32 7/8 arm, 9 3/8 hands

 

I can't speak for the fan-base, but I will speak for myself. It was an exciting time to be a Falcons fan when he was drafted. And then when he busted into the league and showed everyone what he had, it was relatively insane in the ATL. It was a lot of fun, honestly. But I was never a guy who bought into the notion of him being a guy who could take them to the Superbowl. I saw too many holes in his game, from the beginning. So after they lost in Philly at the NFC Championship game in '04, I turned a corner as a Falcons fan. I started wanting him gone.
So, to sum it up, I wanted him gone before all the dogfighting junk came out.

 

White fans hate him, black fans love him. It's a generalization but % wise it's true. I'm white and I used to love him and would take up for him in any argument about how good he really was. I think our biggest mistake was letting Reeves go. I think he would have been a good influence on Vick and I think the offense we ran under him would have helped Vick develop his passing skills. I think the Mora era facilitated the growth of Vick's ego more than the growth of his playing skills. I still think he could have been one of the great ones had he not gone down the wrong path.

 

I agree 100% on this.

 

Really?? One of the great ones? I am not, btw, a racist. I don't agree with your "whites hate him/blacks love him" assessment.

 

Did you watch him play? Did you notice the team around him, or lack there of? There are only a handful of athletes that can take your breath away and he was one of them. He had a ton of 4th quarter comebacks for how few games he played. Sure, he made some maddening plays but he also made some really special plays. I feel with a good coach, that would have kept him grounded, he would have developed quite nicely. In just his raw form he took us to the NFC Championship game.

I'm talking about here in town, not fans across the country. I take it you do not live in Atlanta? The undercurrent of racial tension here is thick. Everyone gets along, for the most part, face to face but you should read some of the news blogs on the AJC and the comments people leave. It's pretty bad by both sides. If there was ever a race war, Atlanta would be ground zero.

 

There are only a handful of guys that make you wonder when they will do something amazing, and he was one of them. He was up there with Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders(on punt/kickoff returns), Devin Hester, and Dante Hall in the excitement category. Despite his shortcomings, nobody could ever deny that he was entertaining.

 

Yep, you guys are right. He was definitely exciting. I just never lumped him into the great QB category. But regardless of his hybrid status, he was amazing.
I lived in Atlanta for 33 years. Well aware of the racial dynamic there. So I know what you're talking about. I just always try to steer clear of generalizations, myself.

 

I was pretty young when I lived there, and haven't been back since before I was a teenager, so my knowledge is pretty limited on the racial dynamics there. However, I've done quite a bit of defending him over the years in other places, so there is some racial divide, though I can't say that it is overwhelming. Personally, I think he had POTENTIAL to be a great QB, but he never really got there.

 

Arthur Blank can't win, for losing, in Atlanta! He gets hammered if a guy holds out, and hammered if he signs a kid in mid
Spring!
So what if some think Ryan was overpaid? We, as fans and bystanders, didn't pay the freakin' contract! Geez! I'm just glad he is signed and ready to play.
Holdouts suck.

 

When you look at Jamarcus Russell getting a full year's pay for only being available for a few games, it makes sense to pay a little extra to get the guy in there from day 1. I don't really have a problem with it, unless he turns into Ryan Leaf, which I don't think is going to happen.

 

That is how I feel too, Omen.