Meet your 1971-1980 All-Decade Falcons team

Many of us don’t remember the likes of George Kunz, Jim Mitchell, or Ken Burrow. Few of us can recall watching Ray Easterling or Fulton Kuykendall play. Yet we should know those names, because they were the shining lights on those early Falcons teams, long before we got to see the team’s first Super Bowl berth.

This 1971-1980 team is loaded with players whose names you might know but whose contributions you might not appreciate. I think it’s a great squad, and I encourage you to look up these guys and get to know them a little better. We are going to vote on the best player at each position all-time coming up here pretty soon, so you’ll need to know.

Here’s your team!

Offense

Quarterback: Steve Bartkowski

Running Back: Dave Hampton

Fullback: William Andrews

Wide Receivers: Alfred Jenkins & Ken Burrow

Tight End: Jim Mitchell

Tackles: Mike Kenn & George Kunz

Guards: R.C. Thielemann & Dave Scott

Center: Jeff Van Note

Defense & Special Teams

Defensive Ends: Claude Humphrey & John Zook

Defensive Tackles: Mike Tilleman & Don Smith

Linebackers: Tommy Nobis, Greg Brezina & Fulton Kuykendall

Cornerbacks: Rolland Lawrence & Ken Reaves

Safeties: Ray Brown & Ray Easterling

Kicker: Nick Mike-Mayer

Punter: John James

Returner: Willie Belton