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1966 Atlanta Falcons season

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1966 Atlanta Falcons season
OwnerRankin M. Smith Sr.
Head coachNorb Hecker
Home stadiumAtlanta Stadium
Results
Record3–11
Conference place7th NFL Eastern
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro BowlersLB Tommy Nobis

The 1966 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's inaugural season in the National Football League (NFL). The Falcons finished in seventh place in the NFL Eastern Conference with a record of 3–11, ahead of only the New York Giants.

Offseason

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The Falcons attempted to acquire Green Bay Packers running back Jim Taylor. There were tensions in Green Bay because the Packers first round pick, Jim Grabowski would be groomed to take over for Taylor.[1] The signing of Grabowski upset Taylor but he stated he would not leave Green Bay until his contract expired, therefore the Falcons could not acquire the running back.

NFL draft

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Main article: 1966 NFL draft

Due to the addition of the team for the 1966 NFL season, the Falcons were allotted the first pick in all twenty rounds of the 1966 NFL draft, as well as five compensatory picks and the end of the first five rounds.

1966 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 1 Tommy Nobis *  Linebacker Texas
1 16 Randy Johnson  Quarterback Texas A&I
2 17 Nick Rassas  Safety Notre Dame
2 32 Jerry Jones  Offensive tackle Bowling Green
3 33 Mike Dennis  Running back Ole Miss
3 48 Phil Sheridan  Wide Receiver Notre Dame
4 49 Ken Reaves *  Safety Norfolk State
4 64 Willie Asbury  Running back Kent State
5 65 Bill Wolski  Running back Notre Dame
5 80 Martin Kahn  Tackle North Texas State
6 81 Charley Casey  Wide Receiver Florida
7 96 William Johnson  Running Back University of the South
8 111 Bill Goss  Linebacker Tulane
9 126 Bob Sanders  Center North Texas State
10 141 Mike Bender  Guard Arkansas
11 156 Steve Sloan  Quarterback Alabama
12 171 Ken Hollister  Tackle Indiana
13 186 Bob Collins  Tackle South Carolina
14 201 Steve Ecker  Kicker Shippensburg
15 216 Tommy Tolleson  Wide Receiver Alabama
16 231 Jim Vining  Guard Rice
17 246 Lurley Archambeau  Center Toledo
18 261 Doug Korver  Center Southern Iowa
19 276 Walt Mainer  Defensive Back Xavier
20 291 Bob Riggle  Safety Penn State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

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1966 undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
Chuck Brooks Cornerback Wiley
Wade Traynham Kicker Frederick

Personnel

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Staff / Coaches

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1966 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches



Roster

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The expansion Falcons were allowed to field a roster of 42(only dress 40) players while the rest of the league was limited to 40 during 1966.[2]

1966 Atlanta Falcons roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics

Regular season

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The Falcons played their first game (preseason) on August 1, 1966, against the Philadelphia Eagles before a crowd of 26,072 at Atlanta Stadium, a two-point Falcons loss, 9–7.[3][4] In their inaugural regular season, Atlanta played each of the fourteen other teams in the league once. The Falcons lost their first nine regular season games; their first win was on the road against the New York Giants, 27–16, on November 20.[5][6] Former Giant Ernie Wheelwright scored two touchdowns receiving and ran for 51 more yards as QB Randy Johnson hit for a trio of touchdowns.

Their first ever home victory was over the St. Louis Cardinals, 16–10, before 57,169 on December 11.[7] The Falcons ended their inaugural season at 3–11, yet Tommy Nobis won the NFL Rookie of the Year Award and became the first Falcon named to the Pro Bowl.

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 11 Los Angeles Rams L 14–19 0–1 Atlanta Stadium 54,418 Recap
2 September 18 at Philadelphia Eagles L 10–23 0–2 Franklin Field 54,049 Recap
3 September 25 at Detroit Lions L 10–28 0–3 Tiger Stadium 47,615 Recap
4 October 2 Dallas Cowboys L 14–47 0–4 Atlanta Stadium 56,990 Recap
5 October 9 at Washington Redskins L 20–33 0–5 D.C. Stadium 50,116 Recap
6 October 16 San Francisco 49ers L 7–44 0–6 Atlanta Stadium 54,788 Recap
7 October 23 at Green Bay Packers L 3–56 0–7 Milwaukee County Stadium 48,623 Recap
8 October 30 Cleveland Browns L 17–49 0–8 Atlanta Stadium 57,235 Recap
9 Bye
10 November 13 Baltimore Colts L 7–19 0–9 Atlanta Stadium 58,850 Recap
11 November 20 at New York Giants W 27–16 1–9 Yankee Stadium 62,746 Recap
12 November 27 at Chicago Bears L 6–23 1–10 Wrigley Field 44,777 Recap
13 December 4 at Minnesota Vikings W 20–13 2–10 Metropolitan Stadium 37,117 Recap
14 December 11 St. Louis Cardinals W 16–10 3–10 Atlanta Stadium 57,169 Recap
15 December 18 Pittsburgh Steelers L 33–57 3–11 Atlanta Stadium 56,229 Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.
  • A bye week was necessary in 1966, as the league expanded to an odd-number (15) of teams (Atlanta); one team was idle each week.

Game summaries

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Week 1 vs Los Angeles Rams

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Week One: Los Angeles Rams (0–0) at Atlanta Falcons (0–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Rams 3 13 3019
Falcons 0 7 7014

at Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta

  • Date: September 11
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C)
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 7: at Green Bay Packers

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Week Seven: Atlanta Falcons (0–6) at Green Bay Packers (5–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Falcons 0 0 303
Packers 7 21 72156

at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  • Date: Sunday, October 23
  • Game weather: 46 °F (8 °C)
  • Box Score
Game information

Week 11 at New York Giants

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Week Eleven: Atlanta Falcons (0-9) at New York Giants (1-7-1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Falcons 7 6 7727
Giants 0 3 7616

at Yankee Stadium, New York City

  • Date: November 20
  • Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C)
  • Box Score
Game information

Standings

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NFL Eastern Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Dallas Cowboys 10 3 1 .769 9–3–1 445 239 W1
Cleveland Browns 9 5 0 .643 9–4 403 259 W1
Philadelphia Eagles 9 5 0 .643 8–5 326 340 W4
St. Louis Cardinals 8 5 1 .615 7–5–1 264 265 L3
Washington Redskins 7 7 0 .500 7–6 351 355 L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 5 8 1 .385 4–8–1 316 347 W2
Atlanta Falcons 3 11 0 .214 2–5 204 437 L1
New York Giants 1 12 1 .077 1–11–1 263 501 L8
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Awards and records

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References

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  1. ^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss, p. 385, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
  2. ^ https://www.profootballarchives.com/nflrosterlimits.html
  3. ^ "Fledgling Falcons lose, but scare Philadelphia". Rome News-Tribune. Georgia. UPI. August 2, 1966. p. 7.
  4. ^ "Falcons drop close game; grid squabbles continue". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. August 2, 1966. p. 13.
  5. ^ "Falcons finally make it - cut down Giants for first victory". Rome News-Tribune. Georgia. Associated Press. November 21, 1966. p. 8.
  6. ^ "Major Events in Falcons History" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, NFL
  7. ^ "Atlanta 'stacks 'Cards' against St. Louis, 16-10". Rome News-Tribune. Georgia. Associated Press. December 12, 1966. p. 8.
  8. ^ "Sporting News Rookie of the Year Winners". Pro Football Reference.
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