The NFL is littered with former Georgia Bulldogs, including most-recent Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. Yet the Atlanta Falcons avoid Athens.
The Atlanta Falcons currently sit roughly 90 minutes from a gold mine. No, not an actual mine where they can tap for pieces of actual gold. It refers to the University of Georgia. Yet, the Falcons and their management still avoid UGA like the plague or an annoying mother-in-law.
For what reason do you ignore the decades of elite talent that, in all honesty, play in your building once a year in the SEC championship game? Meanwhile, NFL contenders and eventual champions see no issue with starting a pipeline from Athens to the NFL.
By the Numbers
For the last 24 Super Bowls a former member of the University of Georgia football team played in the biggest game of the year. On top of that, 43 rings went home to UGA players. At the same time, Atlanta has one Super Bowl appearance and no Super Bowls.
The common excuse remains that the team did not draft near a certain player. Names like Champ Bailey, not only attended UGA but are from the state. Bailey went seventh-overall in 1999. The Falcons owned the 30th pick, which they did well selecting defensive end Patrick Kerney out of Virginia.
Missing on Bailey or Garrison Hearst who went No. 3 overall in 1993 is excusable. There was no real opportunity to make those picks.
Other times, the Falcons whiffed badly on a player only to watch a Georgia player at the same position go just a bit later. The most egregious example was Dan Reeves selecting wide receiver Jammi German out of Miami in the third round at No. 74 in the 1998 draft.
German finished his NFL career with 294 receiving yards.
Forest Park native Hines Ward went 18 picks later to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
We also can’t ignore the fact that Thomasville native, offensive lineman Guy McIntyre (third round) and defensive back Jake Scott (seventh round) combined for five Super Bowl wins and ten Pro Bowl nods.
Excuses
The Falcons not being in the proper spot to draft a UGA player holds zero water. Another case, seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Geno Atkins was passed over multiple times. With the 120th pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, the Bengals selected Atkins who made seven Pro Bowls in Cincinnati.
Who did Atlanta draft before him? Sean Weatherspoon, Mike Johnson, Corey Peters and Jow Hawley apparently fit what Falcons management wanted. Peters had a solid career in the NFL with 135 starts, though only five of those seasons were with the Falcons. And he was no Atkins, never making a Pro Bowl.
No One Else is Blind
Teams routinely pick UGA players. The Philadelphia Eagles see Sanford Stadium as their personal draft camp. Six current Eagles were former Bulldogs, and they’re being fitted for Super Bowl rings.