I couldn’t sleep. As I tossed and turned the night before my first venture to Flowery Branch, I couldn’t help but be excited. What was even more exciting was thinking about what the players and coaches were going through. Like me, there were plenty of other first-timers, from Mike Smith as a head coach to Matt Ryan as an NFL quarterback. Flowery Branch would be my introduction to the Atlanta Falcons experience.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
The first thing you notice when you get to the Falcons’ sprawling campus in Flowery Branch is its pristine condition and the professionalism with which it is run. Coming around the corner of the practice facility, I looked across the immaculate green of the two occupied fields to see the player dormitory in the distance, with a Falcons’ symbol smack dab in the middle. After passing the promotional tents in the parking lot, it’s a stark transformation: from carnival buzz to football, football, football.
The scene is reminiscent of high school two-a-days, except this year’s camp is surprisingly low key. As a prep schooler in Louisiana, I was a soccer player, but I remembered the horror stories of two-a-days: stifling heat, coaches yelling constantly, and countless tall tales from my dad’s prep days at Murphy High in Atlanta (how his coach would make his team run up a steep bank as punishment). Not at Falcons camp. Last season’s No. 7 media monstrosity was apparently punishment enough.
There is a relaxed feel to this camp, from the easy access to players and personnel to the player’s family members standing right alongside the media. The most startling sounds are whistles blowing for drill changes; that passionate, yelling Falcons fan that knows an unhealthy amount of player bios and statistics; and enthusiastic defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. The real kicker, however, was my proximity to the action. I was giddy with excitement when Joe Horn passed literally inches from my face while changing fields, I was in awe of how much zip Joey Harrington puts on his passes (what an arm!), and I was pleased to see Falcons owner Arthur Blank chumming it up with what seemed like every single person on the sidelines. Besides the occasional brushback from a Falcons’ personnel member (stay behind the coolers), you are almost standing on the field of play. You can easily be mistaken for a coach if you were wearing some Falcons apparel (I was not), know some football terminology (I do) and have a football player’s build (sadly, I do not). I would, however, recommend bringing a visor or hat, because the sun can get annoying when trying to make eye contact with Michael Koenen.
THE CAMP EXPERIENCE
By far, the most exhilarating part of camp is the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills at the end of the session. Exhilarating may seem like a strong word for training camp, but it’s spot-on for watching the NFL game at field level, which nearly every fan at camp gets to do. My top moments:
• When franchise future-holder Matt Ryan threw an out route to Adam Jennings. With the ball a little out of his reach and heading out of bounds, Jennings turned on the jets to make the diving catch … about 10 feet away from me. “What a grab,” I said aloud. That’s right, I said it out loud.
• When new signing Erik Coleman picked off Joey Harrington, as Coleman seemingly floated for five seconds to pull down the pass over the middle with one hand.
• Any time Jerious Norwood touched the ball. Fast is not comprehended until you are on the same eye level as the person running. One of the fastest humans I have ever seen.
All of the things I saw were probably small potatoes compared to the experiences of the fans and the kids at Flowery Branch. As sweat dripped into my eyes while I was taking notes, I happened to hear a father telling his son to come look at the linebackers practice.
“Watch them, this is your position,” the father told his boy.
For all the war stories from the players, the holdouts and contract issues (none for the Falcons this year, thank goodness), and the blistering sun, training camp is essentially a chance for fans to get closer to the players they view as mythological, as larger than life.
Flowery Branch: it’s something every Falcons fan should experience.
Horne can be reached at ehorne@scoreatl.com.
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