Atlanta Falcons Greatest Players
NFL Face of the Franchise: History of the Atlanta Falcons Greatest Players
“Face of the Franchise” is a phrase thrown around a lot in NFL circles. It’s a title that should be reserved for only the very best an individual team has to offer. Not only in terms of footballing ability but also that person's character and importance to that franchise.
Very few NFL personnel in history become so synonymous with a franchise to the point their name immediately springs to mind when a football fan thinks of a particular NFL team.
Who over the course of a team’s history defines what that franchise represents?
Atlanta Falcons - Face of the Franchise through the years
The Atlanta Falcons have treated their fan base to a number of entertaining seasons since the team's inception in 1966. The Falcons have boasted some of the most high-octane offenses the NFL has ever seen and Hall of Fame players that have electrified the sport during their time in the league.
However, two Super Bowl appearances have led to two losses on the sport's biggest stage and no Lombardi trophy for the city of Atlanta. Despite the lack of a Super Bowl winning season in the bag, many NFL greats have taken the field for the Atlanta Falcons over the years.
Let’s look at the history of the Atlanta Falcons. Who is the Face of the Franchise?
Julio Jones
Role: Wide Receiver (2011-2021)
When Julio Jones hangs up his cleats he will be considered among the best wide receivers in NFL history. The Falcons coveted Jones ahead of the 2011 NFL Draft.
The Alabama alum was a consensus Top-10 prospect and Atlanta made one of the most aggressive draft-day moves we’ve ever seen to ensure they got their man. Atlanta traded away five draft picks to the Dallas Cowboys to move up from 27th to 6th overall to select Jones.
The payoff was instant. Jones racked up 133 receptions, 2,157 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns in his first two seasons in the league. Atlanta made it all the way to the NFC Championship game in 2012 on the back of a 13-3 regular-season record. Despite losing the NFC title game to the San Francisco 49ers, Jones tallied 11 receptions for 182 receiving yards and two touchdowns in one of the most impressive performances of his career.
Injuries forced Jones to miss most of 2013, however, he backed up a great comeback campaign in 2014 with the best statistical season of his career in 2015. A dominant 136 receptions, 1,871 yards and eight touchdown campaign confirmed Jones had ascended to the very top at his position. In fact, the Falcons legend fell just 93 yards short of the single-season receiving yards record held by Calvin Johnson (1,964 yards - 2012).
Following a 1,409 receiving yard regular season campaign in 2016, Jones stamped his name all over another NFC Championship game. The Green Bay Packers had no answer for Jones who enjoyed a legendary nine receptions, 180-yard, two touchdown day.
His explosive 73-yard beast-mode touchdown reception will go down as one of the most memorable plays in franchise history that put the game out of sight early in the third quarter. Two weeks later, he caught all four of his targets for 84 yards as Atlanta lost Super Bowl LI to the New England Patriots.
Jones has continued to accumulate stats in the years since and holds numerous NFL receiving records. He’s the fastest to reach 12,000 receiving yards in NFL history (125 games) and is the Falcon’s franchise leader in receiving yards and career receptions. An incredible player and future Hall of Famer, Julio Jones is the best wide receiver in Atlanta Falcon’s history.
Claude Humphrey
Role: Defensive End (1968-1974 & 1976-1978)
For the beginning of Claude Humphrey’s career with the Atlanta Falcons, we’re going all the way back to the first round of the 1968 NFL Draft. Atlanta selected defensive end Humphrey out of Tennessee State University with the third overall pick. He immediately repaid the team's faith in him with a defensive rookie of the year performance.
Many defensive players have donned the Falcons logo in Atlanta but very few boast the impressive resume of Humphrey.
The defensive end earned First-Team All-Pro honors five times, Second-Team All-Pro three times, and All-NFC six times. Sacks did not become an official stat in the NFL until 1982, a year after Humprhey retired from the sport thus making all of his sack numbers unofficial.
However, Humphrey finished his career with an unofficial 126½ career sacks with the Falcons and Eagles.
All six of Humprhey’s Pro Bowl appearances came during his time with the Atlanta Falcons, where he was regarded as one of the most consistent defensive players in the league throughout his career. In 1978, although Humphrey only played in four games due to injury, he was part of the Falcons side who made the playoffs and won their first playoff game in franchise history.
Humphrey was easily the best of the Atlanta Falcons for decades. The franchise struggled for years out of the gates and Humphrey was one of the few bright spots on a perennially uncompetitive team. He found some success with Philadelphia and even appeared in a Super Bowl for the Eagles in 1981. However, most of his individual honors were earned during two stints with Atlanta.
The star defensive end was inducted into the Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor in 2008. He narrowly missed out on induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on several occasions in the decades after his retirement. Finally, in February 2014, Claude Humphrey was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the senior ballot. Humphrey paved the way for star pass rushers in the league and has to be considered part of the reason sacks became an official statistic in the league in 1982.
Deion Sanders
Role: Cornerback & Kick-Returner (1989-1993)
Deion “Prime Time” Sanders is one of the most electrifying athletes to step foot on an NFL field… ever.
In the years since his retirement in 2005, Sanders has openly discussed his love for the city of Atlanta, where he played his first five seasons in the league for the Falcons. Not to mention his professional baseball career with the Atlanta Braves from 1991-1994. Sanders remains the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and MLB’s World Series.
When it comes to football, Atlanta selected Sanders with the fifth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. In his very first game for Atlanta, despite bobbling a punt return, Sanders picked the ball up off the turf and returned it 68 yards for an electrifying touchdown.
During the 1990 season, Sanders broke out his infamous high-stepping celebration on his way to the endzone for his first career interception returned for a touchdown. The Sanders “high-step” celebration has become a cultural phenomenon in the league for players about to score a touchdown on a play in acres of space.
Sanders took his game and Prime Time brand to another level in 1992. He incredibly earned First-Team All-Pro honors at two different positions: cornerback and as a kick-returner. He led the league in kickoff return yards (1,067), yards per return (26.7) and return touchdowns (2) to go along with three more interceptions. He even made a touchdown reception on offense for the first time in his career.
In his final season with the Falcons in 1993, Sanders added another seven interceptions to his career tally of 24 in Atlanta. He was named First-Team All-Pro at cornerback again, despite missing five games due to injury. Over his five seasons with the Falcons, Sanders scored ten touchdowns (three defensive, three kick returns, two punt returns, and two receptions).
Sanders only reached the playoffs once and won just a single postseason game with the Falcons.
His two Super Bowl wins came on juggernauts of the NFL later in his career. However, his time with the Falcons made the franchise relevant and arguably for the first time in their history attracted a national audience to the team. He was inducted into the Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor in 2010 and inevitably became part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame a year later, in 2011.
