History
The American Football League awarded a franchise to a group of Atlanta businessmen on June 7, 1965, provided they could get exclusive football rights to the new Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
Almost immediately, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle flew to Atlanta to make a preemptive strike. With the help of Governor Carl Sanders and Mayor Ivan Allen, Rozelle found a buyer for an NFL franchise on June 30: Rankin Smith, the 41-year-old CEO of the Life of Georgia Insurance Company, paid $8.5 million, then the largest sum ever for a professional sports franchise.
The new franchise held a contest to name the team. A teacher from Griffin, Georgia, was named the winner. She was one of several to propose "Falcons," but the letter explaining her choice of the name won her the prize. She wrote, "The Falcon is proud and dignified, with great courage and fight. It never drops its prey. It is deadly and has a great sporting tradition."
In 54 days, the Falcons sold 45,000 season tickets, which easily broke the former NFL record for a new franchise of 26,000, set by the Minnesota Vikings in 1961.
The team's first draft choice was center-linebacker Tommy Nobis of the University of Texas, winner of the 1965 Outland Trophy as the nation's outstanding collegiate lineman. Norb Hecker, who had been an assistant with Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers, was the first head coach.
The Falcons played their regular season game at home on Sept. 11, 1966, losing to the Los Angeles Rams, 19-14. After losing nine games, they got their first victory on Nov. 20, beating the Giants at New York, 27-17. They proceeded to win two of their last four games. The three victories for the season was an NFL record for an expansion team at the time.
However, the Falcons didn't have a winning season until 1971, when they went 7-6-1.
Atlanta's best period was the six-year stretch between 1977 and 1982, under Leeman Bennett. In 1977, the Falcons set an NFL record by giving up just 129 points in 14 games. They made the playoffs three of the next five years, winning the NFC West title in 1980.
Rankin Smith died in 1997 and his son, Taylor, became president. The following season was the Falcons' best ever, as they went 14-2 and won the NFC championship. However, the Denver Broncos beat them, 34-19, in the Super Bowl.
In February of 2002, the NFL approved the sale of the franchise to Arthur M. Blank for $545 million. Blank, a co-founder and former chairman of Home Depot, bought the 88 percent of the team owned by the Smith family. He said that he also planned to buy the remaining 12 perecent, which was split between two owners.