The Others

Going into Sundays Slo Bowl everybody had heard of Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and John Abraham the Atlanta Falcons fab five that have anchored this Falcons team to three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. Despite being the most famous birds in Hawaii they were not the only ones and, for a change, I thought it might say more about these Falcons if we took just a teeny tiny peek at the three other guys that left Hartsfield-Jackson and landed on the big island with the ‘fab five’ (really has Paul McCartney not copyrighted that yet?).

First up and probably the ‘star’ of this little group would have to be third year cornerback Brent Grimes. These three guys don’t exactly provide power names with their alma maters and Grimes is the perfect example of that, he arrived in Atlanta as an undrafted rookie free agent after four impressive years at Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference powerhouse Shippensburg. After his four years as a Red Raider, three of which we All-American years, Grimes bounced around between the Falcons practice squad and NFL Europa before his first full season in the Dome in 2008 recording 34 tackles and 1 interception. The last two years have seen Brent play 16 games in each establishing himself as one of Brian Van Gorder’s more trusted defenders compiling his highest total tackles this year with 87 that included 76 solo tackles. He also picked off 5 passes returning them for a combined 84 yards. Luckily for the Pennsylvania native his last memory of the 2010 season won’t be getting smoked by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers it will be basking in the glow of Pro Bowl sun picking off Peyton Manning.

A bigger presence and one who has certainly helped make Michael Turner the league’s top rusher is the lump who wears 34, Ovie Mughelli (that’s may-HAY-lee according to ESPN). Ovie arrived in Atlanta for the 2007 season after spending four years in Baltimore, where he was a fourth round pick in 2003 out of Wake Forest, the only time you’ll read the name of a division-1 programme in this post. Mughelli was a slow starter in Baltimore playing in only 9 games across his first two full seasons before becoming a Ravens regular in 2005. He posted a career year (all things are relative when you’re a full-back) when he rushed for 50 yards on 12 attempts and 182 yards on 21 receptions that included two receiving touchdowns. His Pro Bowl year was one built as much on the success of Turner as on Ovie’s individual achievements with him collecting 36 yards rushing and 126 receiving as he covered up Michael Turner’s inability to catch anything thrown his way. It probably says more for the Pro Bowl than Mughelli that he scored his first rushing touchdown on Sunday since...(drum roll please)...week 9 of the 2007 season. Well then.

After providing what was maybe the moment of the Falcons season in the Thursday night defeat of Baltimore inside a raucous Dome it was a nice touch that Eric Weems ended up in Hawaii. Weems, who’s college career at the forgotten Florida school Bethune-Cookman began as a wide receiver, has appeared in only 38 games in a receiving role in his career catching only 13 balls for 115 yards, yes they are his career numbers. In his senior year as a Wildcat he added the whole special team’s things to his resume and that is where his value lies for the Falcons. It is because of his skills as a return artist that Weems was maybe the most deserving of these three whooges to play alongside his more illustrious team mates. It was his kickoff return against the Ravens that was for so long the defining moment of the season, one that gave Atlanta their statement victory and seemed to have propelled the team onto something bigger. He also gave the Falcons fans their only highlight of the playoff games against the Packers, taking a Mason Crosby kickoff back for a playoff record 102 yard touchdown return. That strangely is the only thing I remember about that game actually, weird that.

After writing about these three players as Pro Bowlers I just came up with a radical and somewhat crucial question: how on earth did this Falcons team win the NFC number one seed? Suddenly, with a little improvement, things don’t seem so bad!