The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons were founded on June 30, 1965, and joined the NFL in 1966 as an expansion team, after the NFL offered then-owner Rankin Smith a franchise to keep him from joining the rival American Football League (AFL).
Larry Craig Morton is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. He played college football for the California Golden Bears, receiving All-American honors, and was selected by the Cowboys fifth overall in the 1965 NFL Draft. Following nine seasons with the Cowboys, a quarterback controversy with Roger Staubach led to Morton joining the New York Giants for three seasons. He spent his final six seasons as a member of the Broncos, winning NFL Comeback Player of the Year and AFC Offensive Player of the Year in 1977.
Thomas Henry Nobis Jr., nicknamed "Mr. Falcon", was an American football linebacker who played for 11 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he played as a linebacker and guard, and won the Maxwell Award in 1965. He was the first overall selection in the 1966 NFL draft.
The 1966 NFL season was the 47th regular season of the National Football League, and the first season in which the Super Bowl was played, though it was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The league expanded to 15 teams with the addition of the Atlanta Falcons, making a bye necessary one week for each team.
Robert Chadwick "Bob" Berry Jr. was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. He was selected to one Pro Bowl in 1969 as a member of the Atlanta Falcons. Berry was a member of three Super Bowl teams with the Minnesota Vikings in the mid-1970s.
Roy Lee Hilton was an American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 through 1975.
Robert Melville Lee is an American former football quarterback and punter. He played college football for Arizona State, CCSF and Pacific. He was selected 441st overall in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He also played for the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Rams.
Randolph Klaus Johnson was an American football player. He was the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons in their inaugural season of 1966. He also had brief stints with the New York Giants, Washington Redskins, and Green Bay Packers. In 1974, he played with The Hawaiians of the World Football League (WFL).
William Lamar Lothridge was an American football punter and safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Rams, the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins. He played college football at Georgia Tech.
Gary McLinton Downs, Jr. is currently the recruiting coordinator and running backs coach at East Tennessee State University. Gary is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos, and the Atlanta Falcons. He was also an assistant coach for NFL Europa's Amsterdam Admirals.
Richard Earl Shiner is a former professional American football quarterback who played in eleven National Football League (NFL) seasons from 1964 to 1974 for the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, and New England Patriots.
Don Larry Talbert is a former American football offensive tackle who played eight years, interrupted by two years in Vietnam, in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys including the Super Bowl VI champion Cowboys. Prior to that he was an All-American college football at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Alabama Hawks were a professional American football team based in Huntsville, Alabama. They were members of various minor league football circuits in the 1960s: the Southern Football League (1963–64); the North American Football League (1965–66), the Professional Football League of America (1967), and finally the Continental Football League during the league's last two years (1968–1969). While in the CoFL, the Hawks played in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference. During the 1968 season, the team was also known as the Huntsville Hawks.
Maurice Edward Youmans is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Syracuse University.
The 1966 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's inaugural season in the National Football League (NFL). The Falcons finished in seventh place in the NFL Eastern Conference with a record of 3–11, ahead of only the New York Giants.
Dave Dunaway was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL).
James Corbin Sidle was a professional American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at Auburn University and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 4th round of the 1965 NFL Draft.
Henry "Hank" Ernest Schichtle is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Giants in the sixth round of the 1964 NFL Draft. He first enrolled at the University of Hawaii before transferring to Coffeyville Community College and lastly Wichita State University. Schichtle attended Field Kindley High School in Coffeyville, Kansas. He was also a member of the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Waterbury Orbits and BC Lions.
Calvin Orin Ridley is an American football wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was a part of the national championship-winning teams in 2015 and 2017. Drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft, he was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team and earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2020.
Lorenzo Lemuel Carter is an American football linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, and was selected in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.
