Atlanta Falcons Fans Talk To The Churn

Yesterday was a day of truth. We asked Atlanta Falcons fans to share their honest feelings after a(nother) football game for the history books: “40-39.”

Today is a day of reconciliation.

40-39, a.k.a. the 2020 Falcons-Cowboys game, will live in infamy, but the rest of us must live in the present and make good of a season that is truly just beginning. There are many opportunities for things to be turned around.

There is also the other possibility, which we rebuke like the devil whenever he comes down here to Georgia.

We deal with our grievances when we have opportunities to air them. And in our survey yesterday, we learned quite a bit about what the fans are thinking.

When asked to express their current feelings towards the Falcons in one sentence, we received answers such as:

• “Do they even want to play football?”
• “The who? Atlanta doesn’t have an NFL team. (In the denial stage of grief since 2017)”

Several responses to this question pointed to an experience akin to being in a dysfunctional family:

40-39 also gave us a chance to measure your responses to a multiple-choice question on how you’re feeling about the Falcons during this season of NFL football.

We even asked what you’d do if you were Arthur Blank, assuming you aren’t. You said:

• “Sell team and make new one that doesn’t start out cursed from urban lore (facts).”
• “Give every player a rule book and a pop quiz each practice.”
• “Host a charity game where ATL citizens could take on the Falcons and then maybe sign any amateurs that show promise.”
• “Take 10k from their salaries when they lose and give it to the fans!”
• “I would go to Home Depot and build a safe room and sit for a day until the answers came.”

We’d be less than honest if we didn’t share that a significant number of people mentioned Coach Dan Quinn, in a short sentence beginning with an action verb, pronounced historically by Atlantans of true grit as “fye.” ?

That said, it wasn’t all bad. As it turns out, a lot of people still love the Dirty Birds.

Hang in there, family, and stay hopeful. The Falcons have plenty of time to make 40-39 just another (bad) memory — a “minor setback for a major comeback,” as Ja Rule would say. Maybe he’s a bad person to quote in this situation, but still… good quote, right?

At least we ain’t the Saints!