1997 Atlanta Falcons season

32nd season in franchise history; final one under ownership of Rankin Smith

The 1997 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 32nd season in the National Football League (NFL). It was their first season with new head coach Dan Reeves, who had been hired on January 21.

For the season, they added a new logo and added the numerals and socks on the road jerseys are switched from black to red.

The season was marked with tragedy, as team owner Rankin Smith died on October 26, 1997. The following week, the team wore a commemorative patch on their jerseys for the remainder of the season. The season was the last time Falcons started 0–5 until 2020.

Offseason

NFL draft

1997 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 11 Michael Booker  Cornerback Nebraska
2 32 Nathan Davis  Defensive end Indiana
2 41 Byron Hanspard  Running back Texas Tech
3 70 O. J. Santiago  Tight end Kent State
4 100 Henri Crockett  Linebacker Florida State
5 133 Marcus Wimberly  Defensive back Miami (FL)
6 180 Calvin Collins  Guard Texas A&M
7 204 Tony Graziani  Quarterback Oregon
7 222 Chris Bayne  Safety Fresno State
      Made roster  

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1997 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office

  • President – Taylor Smith
  • Executive vice president of football operations – Dan Reeves
  • Director of player personnel/college – Reed Johnson
  • Director of player personnel/pro – Chuck Connor
  • Assistant to head coach/pro personnel – Marvin Bass

Head coaches

  • Head coach – Dan Reeves
  • Assistant head coach – Rich Brooks
  • Assistant head coach/football operations – Harold Richardson

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Al Miller
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Tim Jorgensen

Roster

1997 Atlanta Falcons final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 51 David Brandon LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 36 Fred Lester RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 88 O. J. Santiago TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 83 Ed West TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad

  • 66 Jeremy Akers T
  • 21 Tim Denton CB
  • 73 Barry Mitchell DE
  • 19 Kevin Thornal WR

53 active, 4 inactive, 4 practice squad
Rookies in italics

[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 August 31 at Detroit Lions L 17–28 0–1 Pontiac Silverdome Recap
2 September 7 Carolina Panthers L 6–9 0–2 Georgia Dome Recap
3 September 14 Oakland Raiders L 31–36 0–3 Georgia Dome Recap
4 September 21 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–34 0–4 3Com Park Recap
5 September 28 Denver Broncos L 21–29 0–5 Georgia Dome Recap
6 Bye
7 October 12 at New Orleans Saints W 23–17 1–5 Louisiana Superdome Recap
8 October 19 San Francisco 49ers L 28–35 1–6 Georgia Dome Recap
9 October 26 at Carolina Panthers L 12–21 1–7 Ericsson Stadium Recap
10 November 2 St. Louis Rams W 34–31 2–7 Georgia Dome Recap
11 November 9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–31 2–8 Georgia Dome Recap
12 November 16 at St. Louis Rams W 27–21 3–8 Trans World Dome Recap
13 November 23 New Orleans Saints W 20–3 4–8 Georgia Dome Recap
14 November 30 at Seattle Seahawks W 24–17 5–8 Kingdome Recap
15 December 7 at San Diego Chargers W 14–3 6–8 Qualcomm Stadium Recap
16 December 14 Philadelphia Eagles W 20–17 7–8 Georgia Dome Recap
17 December 21 at Arizona Cardinals L 26–29 7–9 Sun Devil Stadium Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 7 at Saints

Week Seven: Atlanta Falcons (0–5) at New Orleans Saints (2–4)
Period 1 2 34Total
Falcons 10 6 7023
Saints 0 3 01417

at Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Date: October 12
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Game attendance: 65,619
  • Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database
Game information
Falcons
Saints

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP ATL NO
1 2:49 10 37 Falcons 25-yard field goal by Morten Andersen 3 0
1 1:45 2 12 Falcons Bert Emanuel 9-yard touchdown reception from Chris Chandler, Morten Andersen kick good 10 0
2 8:45 12 45 Saints 35-yard field goal by Doug Brien 10 3
2 2:15 8 12 Falcons 32-yard field goal by Morten Andersen 13 3
2 0:00 1 18 Falcons 55-yard field goal by Morten Andersen 16 3
3 12:46 2 6 Falcons Jamal Anderson 2-yard touchdown run, Morten Andersen kick good 23 3
4 14:55 2 30 Saints Andre Hastings 16-yard touchdown reception from Danny Wuerffel, Doug Brien kick good 23 10
4 11:30 6 20 Saints Mario Bates 1-yard touchdown run, Doug Brien kick good 23 17
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 23 17

Standings

NFC West
  • view
  • talk
  • edit
 W L T PCT PF PA STK
(1) San Francisco 49ers 13 3 0 .813 375 265 L1
Carolina Panthers 7 9 0 .438 265 314 L2
Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 320 361 L1
New Orleans Saints 6 10 0 .375 237 327 L1
St. Louis Rams 5 11 0 .313 299 359 W1

[3]

References

  1. ^ "1997 Atlanta Falcons draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  2. ^ "1997 Atlanta Falcons starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  3. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 290

External links

  • v
  • t
  • e
Atlanta Falcons
  • Founded in 1966
  • Based in Atlanta, Georgia
  • Headquartered in Flowery Branch, Georgia
Franchise
Stadiums
Culture
Lore
Rivalries
Wild card / First round berths (8)
Division championships (6)
Conference championships (2)
Ring of Honor
Current league affiliations
  • Category


Stub icon

This article relating to an American football season is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e