
The Atlanta Falcons have represented the city and the wider Southeast since the franchise was founded on June 30, 1965, and began play in 1966 as the NFL's 15th team. Owner Rankin Smith Sr. paid $8.5 million for the club, at the time the highest price ever paid for an NFL franchise. Atlanta selected linebacker Tommy Nobis first overall in the 1966 draft, making him the first Falcon, and the team name came from a Griffin, Georgia, schoolteacher's suggestion that the falcon's courage and hunting instinct fit the city. The Falcons play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the retractable-roof venue that opened in 2017, after earlier homes at the Georgia Dome from 1992 to 2016 and Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium from 1966 to 1991. The team trains at a 50-acre facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia.
Two seasons stand above the rest in Falcons history. In 1998, coach Dan Reeves, quarterback Chris Chandler, and running back Jamal Anderson powered the "Dirty Bird" Falcons to a franchise-best 14-2 record, an overtime upset of the top-seeded Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, and the team's first Super Bowl appearance, a 34-19 loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII. Eighteen years later, the 2016 Falcons went 11-5 behind Matt Ryan's record-setting passing season and Julio Jones's 300-yard receiving game, then beat the Green Bay Packers in the final game at the Georgia Dome to win the NFC and reach Super Bowl LI. Those two trips remain the franchise's only Super Bowl appearances, and the Falcons are the oldest major professional sports team in North America without a league championship.
Atlanta's fan identity is inseparable from the "Dirty Birds" nickname and the "Dirty Bird" dance made famous during the 1998 run, along with Freddie Falcon, the team's longtime mascot. The "Grits Blitz" name honors the 1977 defense and remains a point of pride for longtime followers. Rivalries give the schedule its edge: the long-running series with the New Orleans Saints is the defining NFC South matchup, while a deep playoff history with the Green Bay Packers adds conference weight.
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