The Atlanta Falcons' 12 Defining Draft-Day Moments

The Atlanta Falcons are 116 games under .500 in the 43 year history of the franchise. The team has been to the playoffs only nine times and has never managed consecutive winning seasons. The ineptitude of the team throughout it's history can be directly attributed to bad decisions on draft day. The Falcons have passed up Hall-of-Famers for malcontents, and that is the stuff that futile franchises are built on.

Here is a list of the Falcons 12 most defining draft day moments.

12. Falcons draft Aundray Bruce with 1st pick in 1988

Aundray Bruce is often cited as the worst draft pick in Atlanta history, but I do not think that is fair. Aundray stayed in the league for 11 seasons and he was a decent player, but the Falcons were expecting a Lawrence Taylor type player when they picked him first overall in 1988.

Instead the Falcons got a pass rushing linebacker that often missed his assignments and produced 16 sacks in four seasons. The Falcons could have picked DE Neil Smith, who managed more than 100 sacks in a long career with the Kansas City Chiefs.

11. Falcons draft Claude Humphrey in 1968

Claude Humphrey is simply the best defensive player to put on an Atlanta Falcons uniform. Claude won Defensive Rookie-of-the-Year after being drafted with the 3rd overall pick in 1968 and went on to appear in six Pro Bowls.

He recorded more than 120 sacks (unofficially) in his career and anchored the best scoring defense in NFL history, the 1977 Falcons. The Falcons never were able to put a competent offense on the field during his career so he never played in the playoffs during his decade in Atlanta.

He finally got to play in the postseason in 1980 when he helped the Philadelphia Eagles reach the Super Bowl.

10. Falcons draft Jamal Anderson in 7th round in 1994

Any Falcons fan will tell you that 1998 is the greatest season in franchise history. The miracle run to the Super Bowl in '98 can be largely attributed to a draft day steal in 1994 when the team landed Jamal Anderson in round seven.

Jamal ran for 1846 yards and scored 14 TDs in 1998 while setting an NFL single season record for rushing attempts with 410. Severe knee injuries in 1999 and 2001 cut his career short, but his contributions to the magical 1998 season are not forgotten by Falcons fans.

9. Falcons draft Steve Bartkowski with 1st pick in 1975

Like most of the Falcons high profile draft picks, this one is a mixed bag. Steve Bartkowski was drafted in 1975 to be the franchise QB, but he was simply awful in his first four seasons, throwing 30 TDs against 55 INTs and completing only 48 percent of his passes.

Eventually Bartkowski would get some help on offense and stop throwing the ball to the wrong team, and the Falcons made the playoffs three times in five years between 1978 and 1982. Bartkowski developed into a very good QB and led the league in TD passes in 1980, passer rating in 1983, and completion percentage in 1984.

8. Falcons draft William Andrews in 3rd round in 1979

The help that Steve Bartkowski recieved in 1979 came in the form of RB William Andrews. The Falcons drafted Andrews in the 3rd round out of Auburn, where he had served primarily as a blocker for Joe Cribbs and James Brooks. William quickly established himself as an offensive weapon rushing for more than 1000 yards in his rookie season.

Andrews excelled in both the running game and passing game, and his addition to the offense played a major role in Steve Bartkowski turning his career around. He finished in the top four in yards from scrimmage for four consecutive seasons from 1980-1983, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl in each season.
Like many great running backs, William's career was cut short by a severe knee injury in 1984.

7. Falcons trade 1st round pick to draft Reggie Kelly in 1999

On draft day in 1999, the Falcons traded their 2000 1st round pick for an opportunity to draft TE Reggie Kelly from Mississippi State. Reggie Kelly has been an average player for his entire career, which is the reason the Falcons made no attempt to resign him after his initial contract expired. With the pick the Falcons gave up, the Ravens drafted Jamal Lewis and immediately won the Super Bowl. In 2003, Jamal Lewis had the second highest season rushing total in league history with 2066 yards.

The Reggie Kelly trade felt like a bad trade on draft day in 1999, and it looks even worse now.

6. Falcons trade Brett Favre for a 1st round pick in 1992

This is probably regarded as the worst trade in Falcons history, but let me defend the Falcons. The Falcons drafted Brett Favre in the 2nd round in 1991 and he threw four passes in his rookie year. Two of those passes were intercepted and none of them were completed.

The Falcons were coming off of a 10-6 season in which their young QB Chris Miller had made the Pro Bowl. Not only that, but Favre spent most of his time in Atlanta drunk. I bet the Falcons were jumping for joy when they were able to flip Favre for a 1st round pick in 1992.

Well OK, it turned out badly. Favre went on to break all of the important passing records and win a Super Bowl. The Falcons drafted RB Tony Smith with the 1st round pick, who ran for less than 400 yards in his short career and never even had a rushing attempt after his rookie season.

I can see why this trade seemed like a good idea at the time.

5. Falcons draft Bruce Pickens with 3rd overall pick in 1991

In 1991, the Falcons used the 3rd overall pick on CB Bruce Pickens from Nebraska. His career was so insignificant that I can only find pictures of him in a Raiders uniform, and even in this picture he is giving up a catch. His career stats, two INTs and one sack.

The 1991 draft was pretty weak, but the Falcons could have taken Mike Croel, Todd Lyght, or Herman Moore with this pick.

4. Falcons move up to take Michael Vick in 2001

This is the most hotly debated draft move in Falcons history. Because of the catastrophic 2007 season brought on by Vick's legal troubles, many regard Vick's selection in the 2001 draft as a negative. That's baloney. Michael Vick made the Falcons relevant again. He put fans in the seats and he won his share of games, even if he didn't do it in the conventional way.

In 2007, it was easy to view Michael Vick as a bad acquisition, but nobody was saying that in 2004 when the Falcons were playing in the NFC Championship game.

3. The Jeff George trade

In 1990, the Falcons traded the rights to the 1st overall pick to the Colts for Chris Hinton, Andre Rison, and a 1st round pick in 1991.

The Falcons received a Pro Bowl LT in the prime of his career and a Pro Bowl WR at the start of his career as well as a 1st round draft pick (Mike Pritchard) for the rights to a QB that would lead the Colts to a 14-35 record in his four seasons as the starter.

The Colts would need an absolute miracle to undo the damage this trade did to the franchise.

2. The other Jeff George trade

In 1994, the Indianpolis Colts got the their miracle. Despite his 14-35 record as a starting QB, the Falcons saw fit to give the Indianapolis Colts their 1994 and 1996 1st round draft picks as well as a 3rd round pick for the rights to Jeff George.

The Colts traded the 1994 pick to the 49ers and it was used to draft DT Bryant Young, a borderline Hall-of-Fame player. The 1996 pick was used to draft a guy named Marvin Harrison. Jeff George was released after ripping the Falcons team apart in 96, and the Falcons got nothing for him. It's OK though, because they only gave up two potential Hall-of-Famers to get him.

1. The 2008 draft

I can hear the screams of "it's only one season!" as I type this, but that is kind of the point. In one season, the 2008 draft class established a proven starting QB (Matt Ryan), LT (Sam Baker), and MLB (Curtis Lofton).

That in itself would be enough to constitute a great draft, but there is a lot more in this draft.

Harry Douglass showed the potential to be a superstar in 2008 with a performance against the Panthers that included a nifty TD run on a reverse, a 69 yard 3rd down reception that set the Falcons up inside the five yard line, and a spectacular 61 yard punt return for a TD that clinched the game.

Chevis Jackson had a solid rookie campaign as the nickel back that included a 95 yard INT return at the expense of Drew Brees to seal a Falcons victory. Kroy Biermann played well when given the opportunity late in the season, and Thomas Decoud is said to be the leading contender to be the starting SS in 2009.

At the beginning of the season, I was hoping that the Falcons were positioned similar to the Dallas Cowboys when Jimmy Johnson became the head coach. I knew that they would have very young players at many critical positions, like those Cowboys did, and I was sure they would struggle to be competitive in football games.

That Cowboys team went 1-15 in Jimmy's first year on their way to 3 Super Bowl Championships. The Falcons did 10 wins better.

For this reason, I am already comfortable calling the 2008 Falcons draft the best in franchise history.