This is a list of my favorite Falcons of all-time. These are not necessarily the best statistically or players who achieved the most awards. These are just the my favorites.
Once upon time, 35 years ago the Falcons had the first pick in the Draft. They needed a franchise defining QB. They decided on the nation’s top rated passer from Cal. He was from Iowa originally but his surfer good-looks definitely said west coast.
In his first couple of seasons with Atlanta he did some on the job training and showed promise. The press heralded him as ‘Peachtree Bart’ a riff on Joe Namath’s nickname as ‘Broadway Joe’. He was pretty and talented and then he was hurt. Knee injury. In the late 1970s this was not setback it was more a death knell. Your time in this league is almost up. NFL stands for Not For Long.
But Bart was made of stronger stuff. While his mobility was gone for the most part he still had his arm. The right one. The one that could throw a 25-yard sideline out with velocity and precision. He then set about torching secondaries with great heaves downfield and finesse when needed. He delivered on the promise. He led the league with 31 TD passes while leading the Falcons to the playoffs and added 30 more the next season. He was all about the downfield passing game too. In his 11 seasons under center for the Falcons Bartkowski always had at least 1 td pass of at least 50 yards.
He never became what we hoped he would. Never led the Falcons to the promised land (but to be fair, no Falcon QB has). But he left his mark and I think if I were to purchase any throwback game jersey it would be the Bartkowski era No. 10.