Vote for The Greatest Falcon of All Time

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 8:00 AM EDT in Editorial

Okay Falcoholics. You named 'em and now you get to vote for 'em! The winner will be announced on Monday. We'll also use that result post to start the nomination process for the Falcoholic All-Time Falcons team. Follow the jump for some decision influencing stats!

Candidate Stats:

QB - Steve Bartkowski - '75 Rookie of the Year, 2 Pro Bowls, All-Time Falcons Passing Leader: 156 TD - 144 INT - 24,124 YDS - 76.4 RATE

RB - William Andrews - 4 Pro Bowls, Retired Jersey #: 5,986 YDS - 4.6 YPC - 30 TD

LB - Jessie Tuggle - 1998 SB Team Member, 5 Pro Bowls, Falcon Ring of Honor, Retired Jersey #: 1,803 TAK - 21 SCK - 6 INT (105 YDS RET and 1 TD) - 10 FORFUMB - 9 FUMB RECOV (155 YDS and NFL record 5 FRTD)

LB - Tommy Nobis - 5 Pro Bowls and a bajillion other awards. I'll just let Wikipedia do the talking.

Tommy Nobis joined the Falcons for their inaugural season in 1966. That season he won the league's NFL Rookie of the Year, was voted to the Pro Bowl and amassed an unprecedented 294 combined tackles which still stands today as the team's all-time single-season record, and is unofficially the most tackles ever credited to one player, in a season, in NFL history. In eleven professional seasons he led the Falcons in tackles nine times, went to five Pro Bowls (one in 1972 after two knee surgeries), was named All-Pro twice and was chosen for the NFL's "All-Decade Team" for the 1960s. Miami Dolphins great running back Larry Csonka commented, "I'd rather play against Dick Butkus than Nobis," and Falcon's coach Norm Van Brocklin once pointed to Nobis' locker and proclaimed, "There's where our football team dresses."

Nobis is a member of the Atlanta Falcons' Ring of Honor and his #60 was the first number retired by the team. No other Falcons player has ever worn the number.

DE - Claude Humphrey - 6 Pro Bowls, '68 Defensive Rookie of the Year, STILL not voted into the HOF (what are you waiting for, people?): 126.5 SCKS - 2 S

Vote away and tune in Monday for the result!

Poll

Who is The Greatest Falcon of All Time?

Steve Bartkowski

46 votes

William Andrews

27 votes

Jessie Tuggle

122 votes

Tommy Nobis

104 votes

Claude Humphrey

21 votes

320 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 31 comments | 1 recs |

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Comments

Wow

That was a hard vote to cast. I love all of those guys.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 10, 2009 8:06 AM EDT reply actions

Its has to be Nobis

Simple because he created our team, he was the original member, he is Mr. Falcons

go hard or go home

by TO falcon on Jun 10, 2009 8:18 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions

STILL not voted into the HOF (what are you waiting for, people?)

VERY true Warlock … I think Humphrey should call up Randall McDaniel, roadtrip it to Canton, and kick some serious butt.

Reporter: How will you address all of the dropped passes?

Mike Smith: I don’t think that we were as sharp as we have been catching the football. It’s something that is very fixable. It’s VERY fixable.

by FrankyWren on Jun 10, 2009 9:27 AM EDT reply actions

I'll help! Stupid HOF committee. He's a senior candidate now.

He should be a lock.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm surprised

more of the 1998 guys didn’t make this list. Oh well, best to start with our earliest history makers I guess.

when do we start nominating for the next list?

random factoid about Morten Andersen: one of the few records he doesn’t have as a kicker is “amount of seasons scoring more than 100 points” (he has 14) – he is second to Jason Elam who has 16.

know what you believe in and why you believe in it

by MentallyMIA on Jun 10, 2009 10:25 AM EDT reply actions

I am too. This list comprises the 5 most nominated players from Dave's original post.

And the position nominations start monday. There will be a thread up.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Tough vote

I guess we like defense around here!

It also looks like we love the red helmets….can we bring those back?

by skigator93 on Jun 10, 2009 10:27 AM EDT reply actions

I am in complete agreement.

I wanna see Red Hats, Red Tops, and White Bottoms again. Classic unis.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Recommended based on awesomeness

I had to go Tuggle, but it was not in any way an easy choice. You’re free to accuse me of bias.

by Dave Choate on Jun 10, 2009 11:05 AM EDT reply actions

biased

LOL!

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 10, 2009 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Tuggle's got the numbers and the talent.

But Nobis is my man. Mr. Falcon earned his name and my vote.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Nobis wins out.....

Instinctively I voted for Tuggle. And I admit I was somewhat ignorant of Nobis accomplishments. But if you just do a little research than you’ll come to my conclusion that Nobis should be the winner. Also Nobis should be in the HOF.

by Jon Cushman on Jun 10, 2009 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

Amen!

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I think

If this were a vote on “iconic player” or “face of the franchise”, I’d say Nobis in a heartbeat, probably with Bartkowski 2nd. But I’m convinced that Claude Humphrey is the greatest Falcon…

by orang3b on Jun 10, 2009 12:46 PM EDT reply actions

Can't argue with that logic. He was a beast.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I understand

how hard this is. It was difficult for me anyway. escpecially if you never saw some of these guys play. You owe it to yourself to try and find some clips of claude humphrey. I am telling you, the guy was awesome. Well deserving of the HOF.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 10, 2009 3:42 PM EDT reply actions

once again

Claude Humphrey
Defensive End

Humphrey was a first round pick by the Falcons in the 1968 NFL Draft and completed his career in Atlanta (1968-74, 76-78) as the all-time sack leader in franchise history with 94.5 for 757 yards. Humphrey also ranks second in Atlanta annals with 15.0 sacks in a single season (1976) and is tied for first in the most sacks in a game with 5.0 on two occasions). Humphrey is tied with Falcons offensive lineman Jeff Van Note for the most Pro Bowl appearances in franchise history with six, which includes five-consecutive honors from 1970-74. He also earned three All-Pro selections as a defensive end from 1971-73. In just his first season, Humphrey was selected as the Defensive Rookie of the Year after totaling 11.5 sacks. He went on to total five more campaigns with double-digit sack totals in a season to lead the Falcons in that category. Two seasons after his rookie campaign, Humphrey posted 12.0 sacks while earning All-Pro and All-NFC honors. In 1974, he finished the season with 12.5 sacks before an impressive campaign in 1976, where Humphrey was voted as the team MVP as he contributed with a career-high 15.0 sacks in a season. The Tennessee State graduate also finished his career with two interceptions, which were returned for 11 yards and nine fumble recoveries, one of which was returned 24 yards for a touchdown in 1969.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 10, 2009 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks for the extra info. Hopefully it'll sway some of us from Tuggle...

Just kidding, Dave!

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jun 10, 2009 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Humphrey

I remember when he played for the Eagles and they were losing to the Raiders in the Super Bowl late in the game. The ref threw a flag toward Humphrey and Humphrey picked it up and tossed it back toward the ref (whose mic was on) and uttered a clear “You crazy man….”

by skigator93 on Jun 10, 2009 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions

wow, Tuggle and Nobis are head to head

this poll is turning out less one sided than I thought it would.

Nobis definitely deserves the win, but I think Dave is using a little “moderator pull” to keep his guy on top.
I kid… I kid… Dave would never do that… … I don’t think Dave would ever do that anyways…

know what you believe in and why you believe in it

by MentallyMIA on Jun 10, 2009 6:55 PM EDT reply actions

If you think government coverups are bad

Try me.

by Dave Choate on Jun 10, 2009 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Ha

User Account: MIA
Action: Denied

"If Woody were Captain of the Titanic, he'd argue the boat sinking speaks to how effectively they put rich people in life boats and lock the poor folks below."
-jrauch commenting at Hoopinion on Woody's (non)logic in his post-game comments

by Jesse28 on Jun 11, 2009 7:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Hey

I love both of those guys, but if you asked them who they would pick I bet they would say Claude.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 11, 2009 8:00 AM EDT up reply actions

Very Tough Choice

Somewhere in the attic is one of those coffee table photo books from the late 60’s/early 70’s. It has color pictures of many of the NFL stars from that period. The one photograph that comes to mind is that of Nobis, his face and uniform looking as if he had just been in a knife fight and is going back for more. Mercifully, to protect the faint of heart from seeing what pain looks like, the book doesn’t show the folks he hit.

by striped shirt on Jun 10, 2009 7:07 PM EDT reply actions

Tuggle, Tuggle, Tuggle

It’s so difficult to objectively compare these guys across their different era’s, even with the noted accomplishments of each, so I just went with what I know and that’s Tuggle.

by Jesse28 on Jun 11, 2009 11:22 AM EDT reply actions

and tuggle continues to pull away from the man

know what you believe in and why you believe in it

by MentallyMIA on Jun 11, 2009 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

Only because

he is the most recent player to be that good and that you all remember watching… LOL! Humphrey is the man!

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jun 12, 2009 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions

oh oh oh! I have an idea!

Is there any way you could repost this poll so that everyone can get a second opportunity to vote? I mean, there has been a lot of campaigning since this got posted up and I bet a couple of people would be willing to change their votes. See, and you don’t even have to make it like a “recount”, you can add the total from both polls to the final total so that we can get an official determination of who the falcoholic nation believes deserves to be voted the honorary title of “The Greatest Falcon of All Time”.

I mean and seeing how this poll is supposed to be active until Monday, this will also move the poll back up to the top of the front page since it is getting burried from how active it’s been around here this past week.

It’s just an idea. I’ve been having a lot of fun with this little debate.

know what you believe in and why you believe in it

by MentallyMIA on Jun 12, 2009 12:09 PM EDT reply actions

I'd still vote for Tuggle

I think he more than hold his own in this topic.

by Jesse28 on Jun 12, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions

but it's not just that

perhaps some people read this post and came to their senses that had voted for Bartkowski or something… I mean, with just 1 season under his belt I put Matt Ryan in a category far and beyond Bartkowski.

chances are… Tuggle would be the one drawing in all the converters though, you are very right. Still, Al Gore wouldn’t have been happy with himself if he let the election just “go” … now would he have?

know what you believe in and why you believe in it

by MentallyMIA on Jun 12, 2009 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions