Meet the Falcoholic’s writers and editors

We’ve recently invited our Falcoholic community members to tell us a little about yourselves — where in the world you’re located, and what brought you to The Falcoholic in the first place. Now we want to take a moment to help you get to know our team.

Dave Choate, founder and editor-in-chief

When did you join the team? I founded the site in 2006

What brought you to The Falcoholic? A love of this team and writing, as well as very little common sense.

How did you become a Falcons fan? The 1991 team really captured my imagination when I was just seven years old, in the very limited opportunities I had to watch and read about them then. The playoff berth was amazing—and cemented a lifelong hatred of the Saints—and when Tecmo Super Bowl came out for the Super Nintendo the next year and I could play as the Falcons all day, I was hooked. I still have a shirt I begged my parents to get that year.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? Honestly there are so many moments that have made me so happy for such a star-crossed franchise, but the victory over the Vikings in 1999 to head to the Super Bowl is something that will only be topped by a Super Bowl victory. I loved that team from Jamal Anderson to Jessie Tuggle, and seeing them win in that odds-defying way was beyond magical.

Jeanna Kelley, editor

When did you join the team? In 2011. I’d been laid off from my full-time gig as the marketing and business development director at a wedding and special events venue, so I had plenty of time to hang out at training camp. Dave asked me to write up some thoughts about what I saw there, and here I am 12 years later.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? The fan perspective, the smart writing, and the sense of humor. I feel like our writing team is honest in our assessments of the Falcons, but we’re always writing about this team from the perspective of wanting them to succeed. Also, if the Falcons are going to insist on breaking our hearts all the time, we’d better keep a sense of humor about it for our sanity and peace of mind.

How did you become a Falcons fan? I moved to the greater Atlanta metro area from Columbus, Oh. in 2005 and immediately missed the culture of Ohio State football once the season rolled around. My ex-husband won tickets to the Vikings-Falcons matchup that season, and it was my first NFL game. Michael Vick was so electric (even though he did get mildly injured and had to be replaced by Matt Schaub in that one) and I was all the way in on this team.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? This one is so hard to answer because I’m fortunate enough to have several experiences from which to choose. I think I’ve got to go with the very last game in the Georgia Dome; the absolute drubbing of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship following the 2016 season. It was ABSURD. The environment in the Dome was electric, which is not something we often get to say about Atlanta’s home field. I remember running into Scott Pioli in the press box at the half and making a comment about how well the team was playing, and he said, like any rational Falcons fan would, “there’s a whole lot of game left.” I also ran into Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy while he was grabbing popcorn at the half, and he was not at all optimistic despite how much game was left. Murphy was right — the Falcons rolled Green Bay 44-21 and punched their ticket to that Super Bowl that we won’t discuss here.

Kevin Knight, editor

When did you join the team? Just before the 2016 season. I had previously written for The Runner Sports and Blogging Dirty since around 2014. After infamously reaching out to Dave prior to the 2015 season (and getting some good advice!), Dave finally got around to hiring me just in time for the best Falcons season in recent memory. I like to think I was the good luck charm.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? I’ve been a passionate Falcons fan since the beginning of the Mike Vick era, but my growing interest in the NFL Draft and other aspects of team building naturally led me to a place with more in-depth coverage of my favorite team. I joined the comment section at the end of the 2012 season to vent my rage, and I never left.

How did you become a Falcons fan? I was always close to the team, growing up in northwest Florida (“Lower Alabama”) and frequently visiting family in Atlanta. To be completely honest, I bought in as a kid for very important reasons: I thought red and black were the best colors, and that falcons were cool. It wasn’t until Mike Vick came along and electrified the league with his play that I started following the team closely.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? It’s got to be the Falcons taking down the Packers in the 2016 NFC Championship game on my birthday. I went to a local Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game and was the only Falcons fan in attendance. Being close to Detroit at the time, there was no love lost for Green Bay in the clientele. The entire place became honorary Falcons fans and had a great time celebrating with me.

Adnan Ikic, writer

When did you join the team? In January of 2018, immediately after the conclusion of the 2017 season. Unfortunately, the Falcons have not spent a single day with a winning record since I joined the staff (2018-2022), so I will bear that albatross around my neck.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? I had previously worked at Blogging Dirty, since 2014, with Kevin and the site had become pretty abandoned by the middle of that 2017 season, which is when I stopped. A few months later, Kevin sent me a message looking to recruit me to The Falcoholic. After initially thinking I had done my last bit of Falcons writing, I took him up on the offer and couldn’t be happier that I did.

How did you become a Falcons fan? Little did I know it at the time, but I sort of had the decision made for me when my parents immigrated to Atlanta upon their arrival to the United States in 2000 (when I was three). A few years later, I really started getting into sports and I took every single Atlanta team as my own, for better or for worse. Along with the Falcons, I live and die with the Hawks, Braves, United and all other Atlanta teams to this day.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? The entire 2016 playoff run was so special. The entire city completely got behind the franchise to the point where I was high-fiving and talking Falcons with strangers on the streets, at the gym and wherever else. The Divisional Round victory against the Seahawks was particularly special for me because I was at the Georgia Dome with some friends for that one. The arena was electric, everyone was in their seats for kickoff and I just felt something different about this team as I watched the offense go up and down the field against a helpless Seattle defense. I’ve been chasing that feeling in regard to this franchise ever since.

Will McFadden, writer

When did you join the team? I’m afraid I’m a bit of a double-dipper. I first joined The Falcoholic for the magical 2016 season, and it was an incredible place to develop as a writer. After my stint working for AtlantaFalcons.com ended in 2021, I was so appreciative to come back and rejoin all of y’all.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? Like many here, I grew up a tortured Falcons fan. So, it wasn’t hard to immediately connect to so many here in the comments, who have these beautiful shared memories and sense of community. That’s what first made The Falcoholic a must-read for me during my college days. Pair that with the wry sense of humor and fun-first nature of the website, and I was completely hooked. Writing for a site that encourages and celebrates creativity is the absolute best.

How did you become a Falcons fan? You try growing up in Atlanta during the beginning of Michael Vick’s (unfortunately too short) run with the Falcons and tell me you’re not immediately hooked for life.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? I’ll give you two. The first was in the leadup to the 2004 season — another great year — when the Falcons had some sort of major fan kickoff event late in the summer. As an 11-year-old at the time, getting to meet players like Allen Rossum and Warrick Dunn was an absolute dream come true. I still have a hat signed by like nine players from that day.

The second was much more recently — Deion Jones’s interception of Drew Brees in the end zone to seal a tight 20-17 victory on Thursday Night Football with the Color Rush uniforms on. Being in the press box gave me a perfect vantage of the play, and the energy was so palpable in the building. Purely electric.

Evan Birchfield, writer

When did you join the team? I joined The Falcoholic team in November of 2018 and have never looked back.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? After writing for RiseUpReader.com, I followed Cory Woodroof over and started writing and appearing on our podcasts/shows. The Falcoholic has opened some amazing doors for me and I’ll never forget it. Between our passionate, loyal readers and our incredible staff who keep our content fresh, joining The Falcoholic team was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. What makes it a unique place is that unlike some other places that produce Falcons content, everyone at The Falcoholic is a Falcons fan.

How did you become a Falcons fan? I became a Falcons fan when I was six years old in 1996. Living in North Carolina at the time, my dad (a lifelong Vikings fan) took me down to watch the Falcons and Vikings play in the Georgia Dome. His hope was that I would become a Vikings fan like him. Unfortunately for him, I instantly went for the team with black uniforms and I’ve been a fan ever since. Even though they let us down often, being a Falcons fan is like a badge of honor. Those who know me, know that I’m loyal to my favorite team and my fandom will never change.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? Honestly, I have so many. Personally, it was probably watching the 2016 NFC Championship. I never felt more energized than watching that game. It was a long time coming and a moment where fans of the team could puff their chests out a little.

Professionally, it would be covering my first Falcons game in the press box. Putting my fandom aside and being a professional in the box for the first time was a unique experience. I’ll never forget it.

Matt Chambers, Blogging Specialist

When did you join the team? I joined the Falcoholic in the “before times” where the hope was plentiful but the wins weren’t — 2013. The Falcons had Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez with offensive whiz Dirk Koetter, and... well, a bunch of guys on defense. The Falcons were semi-consistently making the playoffs, and while this may be the fan in me, it always felt like the Falcons were just a move or two away from doing it all.

Things seemed so bright at the time. However, in the nearly decade I’ve been writing at the Falcoholic, there have been only two winning seasons. Things looked a lot different at the Falcoholic as well, with only Dave and Jeanna among the 2023 Falcoholic survivors.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? In November of 2013, Dave DMed me two entire sentences, without even using my name, asking if I would be interested in writing for his website. If the DM was any longer, he would have certainly Choated it.

I’d been writing about the Falcons for a few years at different sites which no longer exist. Actually, even before that, I was a degenerate commenter on Talk About the Falcons, the mothership’s message board. That somehow transitioned to Twitter then writing articles for some newer websites without a whole lot of traffic. I had offers to move to slightly-less-bottom-of-the-early-2010s-blogosphere sites, a few of which still exist in some form or fashion today, but nothing close to the popularity of The Falcoholic. Popularity is good and all, but I’d been talking to Dave about the Falcons for years. He’s good people and ultimately a big reason why I’ve been here for a decade and how we manage to keep so many other writers.

How did you become a Falcons fan? The short answer is Mike Vick. Vick was drafted a few years after I moved to Atlanta, and what he was able to do on any play was so different than anything else I had seen in the NFL. It was an exciting time in team history and I got pulled in. The transition from catching a few games on Sundays to watching the draft, scouring the AJC’s printed paper for offseason Falcons blurbs and penning thousands of posts on the Falcons message board is surprisingly quick.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? Nothing beats the victory over the Green Bay Packers in the 2016 season. The playoffs had been... problematic for the Falcons in recent years. The Falcons were a missed PI call away from the Super Bowl in 2012, but they also got boat raced by the Packers in the 2010 playoffs and scored 0 offensive points against the Giants in the 2011 playoffs. Beyond that Packers playoff game, Green Bay had been beating up Atlanta for years. I had grown so accustomed to losing to the Packers that even the highs of the 2016 season didn’t overcome my concern. The Falcons absolutely dismantled the Packers from top to bottom and sent out the Georgia Dome in the best way possible. It felt like a real change for the Falcons... for a few weeks.

Allen Strk, Content Writer and Podcast Contributor

When did you join the team? I joined the team in January 2015. Two weeks before Dan Quinn was hired as the Falcons’ new head coach.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? The desire to write about my childhood favorite team at a high level with a group of talented, creative individuals. I had been reading the website for multiple years. I had several writers on the FalcFans podcast that Aaron Freeman and I recorded together in 2013 and 2014. Connecting with Dave, Jeanna, Matt, and DW was always enjoyable. No matter how much the franchise faltered, they brought passion and insight when talking or writing about the Falcons. To work with such a dynamic, sharp-minded team is something I always envisioned as a writer. Once the 2014 season ended, I reached out to Dave about joining the team. We made it happen and started creating compelling content.

How did you become a Falcons fan? The first football game I ever watched was the 1998 NFC Championship game. I was only four years old and started slowly getting into sports. My brother was a massive Minnesota Vikings fan. He was going berserk over the game. What caught my interest involved a team doing a dirty bird dance with an old-school coach and quarterback who looked likelier to teach biology than start at the most important position for an NFL franchise. The Falcons seemed fun to me. The red and black colors connected with me. Even after they lost in the Super Bowl to Denver, I remained interested in them. As someone who strongly believes in loyalty, I was committed to watching them. Not even the disastrous 2007 season could make me switch teams. I continued to watch just like I do now. I’ll still occasionally break out the Michael Turner jersey. I miss watching that man play football.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? I wish there were an alternative option to the 2016 NFC Championship Game. The 2008 season was one of the best underdog stories ever, but the most defining moment for that year arguably came from Matt Ryan’s first career pass. They didn’t have that moment to get into the playoffs that will forever be remembered. It was a hard-fought, somewhat sloppy win over a formidable Minnesota team. 2012 had its moments, but nothing comes close to what occurred in the final game ever inside the Georgia Dome. Julio Jones was simply unstoppable. Matt Ryan took complete command in MVP form. Ricardo Allen and Jalen Collins forced crucial turnovers. Everything a fan dreams of transpired in that NFC Championship Game. I was in a Falcons fan bar in New York City called The Watering Hole. There were at least 80 people in there. The atmosphere couldn’t have been better for the greatest win in franchise history.

Everett Glaze, Writer

When did you join the team? I joined the team in 2020, which ultimately led to the downfall of the Dimitroff tenure.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? Matt Chambers actually. At the time, I was writing on another site, and he slid into my DMs to help get me over to the best Falcons site there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.

How did you become a Falcons fan? It all started with Deion “Primetime” Sanders and Jerry Glanville in the late 80’s/early 90’s. The building of the Georgia Dome, the Run and Shoot offense and MC Hammer making appearances on the sidelines turned me into an avid Falcons fan. That, and the fact that Glanville completely changed the color scheme of the Falcons uniforms by incorporating black into it. It started there, and I never looked back.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? There are actually quite a few considering I’ve visited Flowery Branch multiple times, and I’ve had the pleasure to meet a few of the players and coaches. If I have to make a choice, it was the experience of watching the Falcons be completely dominant in the 2016 NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers. While I absolutely loved the 1998 game against the Minnesota Vikings, that game against the Packers was the most fun I’d ever had as a Falcons fan. I don’t recall what happened after that, but that was absolutely the pinnacle of happiness for me as a fan.

Aaron Freeman, Writer

When did you join the team? 2021. I think. Time is meaningless now thanks to COVID.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? It’s been my mission since 2008 to bring this website to its knees. In reality, it had been a few years since I wrote on a regular basis, so I decided to get back into it.

How did you become a Falcons fan? I became a fan in the early 1990s when I learned that I was related to then Falcons safety Brian Jordan. That was right around the time when the team was really good in 1991 with MC Hammer, Deion Sanders, Jerry Glanville, Andre Rison, so it was easy to stick with them. It’s a decision I’ve regretted ever since.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? Finding a favorite is difficult because it feels like over 30 years of misery. The decade of watching Julio Jones end the careers of multiple cornerbacks probably would be where most of the highlights come from. Probably the happiest I’ve been as a fan was the two weeks between the destruction of the Packers in the 2016 NFC Championship and the third quarter of Super Bowl 51. Then something happened after that, but I don’t really remember what it was.

Jordan Watkins, Writer and Podcast Contributor

When did you join the team? I first joined the team late in the 2022-23 season.

What brought you to The Falcoholic? Being on the West Coast, the Falcoholic has been such an important part of keeping me up to date with my favorite team the last 10 years. I wanted to be a part of it and talk mainly about the line of scrimmage (the MOST important part of football btw).

How did you become a Falcons fan? Growing up in Atlanta, all the pro sports teams there were huge for me. My fall Sundays were always spent in the Georgia Dome since my parents had season tickets. They still have them over in the Benz. I love the Hawks, I love the Braves, and I’ve gotten to love Atlanta United and the Dream since they are newer, but the Falcons have always held that top spot.

What’s your favorite Falcons-related experience? Two easily stick out...the first one happened when I was almost four years old back in 1997. My parents decided that we were going to up to the NFC Championship Game in Minneapolis. The whole trip was incredible. We went to the hotel that the team was staying in, and I remember running into Jamal Anderson at the elevator (he was my favorite player at the time). I can still remember hearing that Viking horn over and over, my parents reminding me that I was about ready to cry when I thought we were going to lose, and of course...IT WAS COLD. I think we had to de-ice the wings of the plane a couple of times before we could actually take off to come home.

The other one is definitely being invited to Falcons rookie mini camp in 2017. I still remember my agent calling me telling me that I was going to be headed back to Atlanta for the tryout and dropped my phone because I couldn’t believe it. For those three days, I’d be playing for my favorite team. Pretty wild looking back at the whole cycle of my Falcons fandom with those two moments.