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The Scale of Falconliness, Inside Linebackers Week: John Rade

By Jason Kirk

Who's the ultimate Falcon? And who's the ultimate anti-Falcon? That's what we're going to find out with our summer project: the Scale of Falconliness. We'll rate former Falcons on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most Falconly. The rule: minimum of three seasons with the Falcons for coaches, five seasons for players.

John Rade, Linebacker (1983 - 1991)

Falconly Unfalconly
  • Nine years as a Falcon, good for 18th all time. Wore red and black his entire career, until Jerry Glanville occured. Then he wore black and red.
  • Glanville was his favorite coach, and Deion Sanders was one of his favorite teammates. That's about all I need to know about John Rade.
  • Falcons team captain at some point. Work with me, internet.
  • Team's leading tackler in 1987 and 1988, with four 100-tackle seasons. (Again, the 1980s tackle stat monster rears its generous head.)
  • After retiring due to various knees, went back to Boise State to retake classes he'd blue 80'd through as a young student-athlete. Rade ended up banging out a 4.0 and earning a finance degree. He chalks his post-football studiousness up to how hard he had to work to master an NFL defense. (Therefore, we can conclude Falcons coach Dan Henning's defense was at least as confusing as Boise State's finance program.)
  • Currently a high school football coach, teacher, and athletic director. Albeit not in Georgia.
  • Much like Buddy Curry, was never recognized by peers or media as an especially noteworthy player.
  • Missed at least one game in six different seasons due to various knees.

Current standings after the jump:

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