Facts About Fanbases: Atlanta Falcons

PackFan2005 Good morning, afternoon, evening, whichever of the three. We are now on our fourth stop on our journey to examine all 32 NFL’s team’s fanbases. The good and bad. These are Facts About Fanbases...

Today’s Team: Atlanta Falcons

Would it be taking it too far to compare them to Dallas Cowboys fans? Not when you think about it. If you’ve seen Falcons games, you can see how snarky and obnoxious they are at times. Now, let’s get into this.

Arrogance Origins

I suppose I can say that during the early 90’s, they weren’t so bad. Losing team, but respectful fans. Then came the 1998 season. Acting all high and mighty the whole season, and even more so after winning the NFC championship against the Minnesota Vikings. They all thought, “man, the Super Bowl is ours.” Never underestimate the Denver Broncos. Shouldn’t teams have learned that by now? The Packers learned the hard way the previous season, and the Panthers had it coming in 2015. But had Falcons fans learned nothing? They were crushed in the big game. Needless to say, they were devastated. After that, the fans kind of went silent, until somewhere in between 2008-2011. Picked up Matt Ryan and Julio Jones in separate drafts. Falcons fans slowly grew increasingly annoying, despite losing seasons. But then 2016 happened. They went nuts to say the least. Screaming, cawing like a bird, and doing a weird Falcon dance. “Rise up!” they all screamed during the 2016 season. Eventually they made the playoffs, and crushed the Seahawks and Packers along the way to Super Bowl LI. Tom Brady? They thought he was old and couldn’t manage another win. Then, the whole 28-3 thing happened, and it ended with Brady hoisting up his fifth Lombardi, with Falcons fans shocked. What had happened? Was it that they were too cocky? Maybe so, because they suffered one of the most humiliating losses in NFL history. But the loss just made them worse. And here we are, entering the 2018 season, with bandwagon fans coming in by the dozens.

Getting to Know the Current Fans

Well... to tell the truth, I pretty much summed it up in the previous paragraph. Probably should’ve waited until this paragraph to do it. But, to give some more insight, I used to go to a school with a bunch of bandwagon Falcons fans. I lived in Alabama a few years ago, and a lot of people were extreme Falcons fans. All for one reason. Julio Jones. Yup, Crimson Tide Fans bandwagoned over to Atlanta for a wide receiver. It’s sad. I also saw a lot of bandwagon Panthers fans too, but we’ll get to that in a later episode.

Evidence of Arrogance

I was browsing through NFL news once and I found an article written by a Falcons fan about the top ten receivers in the NFL currently. I’ll list the top ten they had below.

#1. Julio Jones

#2. Antonio Brown

#3. Odell Beckham Jr.

#4. DeAndre Hopkins

#5. A.J. Green

#6. Michael Thomas

#7. Doug Baldwin

#8. Larry Fitzgerald

#9. Marvin Jones

#10. T.Y. Hilton

Ignoring the fact they actually put Doug Baldwin above better receivers, my focus here is on Julio Jones at #1. Is that bias or what? Above Antonio Brown, who has stayed consistent longer than Jones. Let’s compare their 2017 stats side by side.

Antonio Brown
Receiving Yards: 1,533
Yards Per Catch: 15.2
Receiving Touchdowns: 9

Julio Jones
Receiving Yards: 1,444
Yards Per Catch: 16.4
Receiving Touchdowns: 3

Heck, Brown had the better stats and only played 14 games, while Jones started 16. I don’t know what that writer was thinking. Another thing I must discuss. The worst Falcons fan I’ve ever seen. Samuel L. Jackson. Good grief. Where do I start? Those videos with his “Rise Up” glasses saying that the Falcons are going to crush (insert team) and saying that Matt Ryan is the best quarterback in the NFL. I’m not sure he’s aware of what other quarterbacks are in the league currently. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Russell Wilson are all examples of better quarterbacks. He’s definitely one obnoxious fan. And clearly doesn’t regard anyone outside of his team.

Conclusion

Like I’ve said before, not all Falcons fans are obnoxious. Unfortunately, I’ve never met a non-obnoxious one, so how would I know? Anyway, tune in next time as we discuss the Minnesota Vikings. Is it just me, or is their “Skol” thing getting annoying?

Comments

I feel like 2016 just made them go insane. It seems that from then on they’ve been way worse than before 2016 - visitor

Yup, Falcons fans beyond 2016 have been awful and full of bandwagoners. - PackFan2005