The AJC's Steve Wyche and D. Orlando Ledbetter are reporting that the Falcons have been linked to David Jacobs, an alleged dealer of steroids. The Dallas Cowboys were also mentioned in the case, but everything's bigger in Texas and they're America's team and Tony Romo is just so gosh darn dreamy. No, if anybody's going to be totally screwed by this scandal, it's definitely going to be the Falcons.
I don't want to overreact to this, but I also don't want to blow it off completely. I took the Vick situation lightly, and I don't think there's anyone reading this who doesn't remember--painfully--exactly how that went. Jacobs could just be trying to save his ass, but the fact that he selected two specific teams is a great cause for concern. I can't even begin to speculate on who might be involved in this, but Matt Lehr's past connections to the Cowboys and Falcons could make him a candidate. Current players for either team, though? You won't catch me guessing.
If true, this would probably sound the death knell for the Falcons season. No team survives a string of bad luck like that. As an example, take the St. Louis Cardinals of the MLB, who suffered through a manager's drunk driving, the death of a team mate and the steroid case of an outfielder. Due to lower levels of talent and the devastating psychological effects of repeated crises, the Cardinals lurched their way through a pretty sub-standard season. The Falcons have had an even smaller margin of error due to an offense that's best described as lacking any semblance of human decency and are already on their way to a pretty bad season, proximity to the division leader notwithstanding.
Long story short, I'm begging the football gods not to let this be true. I just hope Jacobs is either lying or has been giving steroids to actual falcons, creating a sort of roided up, pissed off bird of prey. It'd be better than the alternative.