2001 Atlanta Falcons season

The 2001 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise’s 36th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Falcons obtained the first pick overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. With the pick, the Falcons drafted Michael Vick.[1]

2001 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coachDan Reeves
Home fieldGeorgia Dome
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersLB Keith Brooking

This was Jamal Anderson’s final season as he re-aggravated his surgically repaired knee in Week 3, and this time, it ended his career. The Falcons improved on their 9–23 record from the previous two seasons, but still failed to qualify for the postseason for the third consecutive campaign.

This was the final season under the Falcons' founding ownership, the Rankin M. Smith Sr. family, as the franchise was sold to The Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank in March 2002.

Offseason

Vick was selected in the 2001 NFL Draft as the first overall pick and first African American quarterback taken number 1 in the NFL Draft. The San Diego Chargers had the number one selection spot in the draft that year but traded the rights to the first overall choice to the Atlanta Falcons a day before the draft, for which they received the Falcons’ first round pick (5th overall) and third round pick in 2001 (used to draft CB Tay Cody), a second round pick in 2002 (used to draft WR Reche Caldwell) and WR/KR Tim Dwight.[2] With the Chargers’ downgraded spot (the 5th overall), they selected Texas Christian University running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who went on to become league MVP in 2006.[3] Although Vick has never become league MVP, he finished second in voting in 2004.[4] In this way, Tomlinson and Vick are linked as having been “traded” for each other, although the transaction was actually the result of traded draft picks and contract negotiations.

NFL Draft
Main article: 2001 NFL Draft
2001 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 1 Michael Vick *  Quarterback Virginia Tech
2 35 Alge Crumpler *  Tight end North Carolina
4 99 Roberto Garza  Guard Texas A&M–Kingsville
4 102 Matt Stewart  Linebacker Vanderbilt
5 136 Vinny Sutherland  Wide receiver Purdue
6 167 Randy Garner  Defensive end Arkansas
7 215 Corey Hall  Defensive back Appalachian State
7 219 Kynan Forney  Guard Hawaii
7 226 Ronald Flemons  Defensive end Texas A&M
7 236 Quentin McCord  Wide receiver Kentucky
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[5]

Undrafted free agents
2001 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Jay Feely Placekicker Michigan
Dave Kadela Tackle Virginia Tech

Personnel

Staff
2001 Atlanta Falcons staff
Front office
  • President – Taylor Smith
  • General Manager – Harold Richardson
  • Vice President of Football Operations – Ron Hill
  • Director of Player Personnel/College – Reed Johnson
  • Director of Player Personnel/Pro – Les Snead
  • Assistant to Head Coach/Pro Personnel – Marvin Bass

Head coaches

  • Executive Vice President of Football Operations/Head Coach – Dan Reeves

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Al Miller
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Rocky Colburn

Roster
2001 Atlanta Falcons final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 53 active, 4 inactive, 3 practice squad

Regular season

This was the Falcons’ 32nd and final season as a member of the NFC West Division. If you count its predecessor, the Coastal Division of the NFL’s Western Conference prior to the 1970 merger, it was the franchise’s 35th season in this division. The Falcons moved to the new NFC South as part of the NFL’s realignment plan for the following season.

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Results
Final score Team record TV TV Time Attendance
1 September 9 at San Francisco 49ers L 13–16 (OT) 0–1 FOX 4:15pm
65,989
2 September 23 Carolina Panthers W 24–16 1–1 FOX 1:00pm
47,804
3 September 30 at Arizona Cardinals W 34–14 2–1 FOX 4:05pm
28,878
4 October 7 Chicago Bears L 3–31 2–2 FOX 1:00pm
46,483
5 October 14 San Francisco 49ers L 31–37 (OT) 2–3 FOX 1:00pm
46,727
6 October 21 at New Orleans Saints W 20–13 3–3 FOX 1:00pm
70,020
7 Bye
8 November 4 New England Patriots L 10–24 3–4 CBS 1:00pm
44,229
9 November 11 Dallas Cowboys W 20–13 4–4 FOX 1:00pm
69,010
10 November 18 at Green Bay Packers W 23–20 5–4 FOX 1:00pm
59,849
11 November 25 at Carolina Panthers W 10–7 6–4 FOX 1:00pm
72,234
12 December 2 St. Louis Rams L 6–35 6–5 FOX 4:15pm
59,318
13 December 9 New Orleans Saints L 10–28 6–6 FOX 1:00pm
68,826
14 December 16 at Indianapolis Colts L 27–41 6–7 FOX 1:00pm
55,603
15 December 23 Buffalo Bills W 33–30 7–7 CBS 1:00pm
43,320
16 December 30 at Miami Dolphins L 14–21 7–8 FOX 1:00pm
73,559
17 January 6 at St. Louis Rams L 13–31 7–9 FOX 4:05pm
66,033

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(1) St. Louis Rams 14 2 0 .875 503 273 W6
(5) San Francisco 49ers 12 4 0 .750 409 282 W1
New Orleans Saints 7 9 0 .438 333 409 L4
Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 291 377 L2
Carolina Panthers 1 15 0 .063 253 410 L15

References
  1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 392
  2. ESPN – Chargers big winner in different draft-day deal – NFL
  3. NFL Most Valuable Players – NFL MVP Player of the Year
  4. Barry Wilner (2005-01-11). "Manning NFL MVP again: 49 TDs, passing rating of 121.1 make Colts QB near-unanimous pick". The Decatur Daily. Archived from the original on 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
  5. "2001 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
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