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Builder's market Second-year owner Blank focused on Falcons' futurePosted: Sunday August 10, 2003 2:06 PM
ATLANTA -- It was some time late in the fourth quarter of January's historic playoff win at Green Bay, with the snow falling softly on the stunned crowd at Lambeau Field, that Arthur Blank fully realized just how much his current job beats selling plywood and caulking guns all to heck. Blank built his name and his business empire as a co-founder of The Home Depot in 1978. But now, 25 years later, he's working on his legacy as the do-it-himself owner of the Atlanta Falcons. And so far even the blisters have been painless. "My children some times say to me, 'You know Dad, I thought you were going to retire,'" Blank told me Saturday night, just before his Falcons kicked off their highly anticipated 2003 season against Green Bay at the Georgia Dome. "But I always say, 'Look, let me ask you a question. If I retire, can I do anything that would be more fun than coming out and being a part of the Atlanta Falcons, and actually owning this team?'
"Honestly, one of my great joys is to see the energy this football team has put back in the city. That's a wonderful thing." No moment in Blank's year-and-a-half joyride with the Falcons was as defining as their 27-7 upset of the Packers in the first round of the NFC playoffs. The setting, the opponent and the improbable outcome made it all the sweeter for Blank, who has gone and done it now. After Green Bay, you get the feeling he's hooked on this NFL ownership gig for life. "It was an amazing night," Blank said. "We went up there obviously huge underdogs against a team that had never lost a playoff game at Lambeau Field. I don't know what a perfect game is, and certainly we didn't play a perfect game. But it was close to it as we were able to come last year for sure, and under that kind of pressure. The whole team played just beautifully, offensively and defensively. "And at the end of that game, when we stood there and watched the snow come down and you looked up there at that scoreboard and the Falcons are on top, I mean our players were in awe. They stood there and took their helmets off and soaked it all up. It was so special. It was just the culmination of an incredible season, both on and off the field, and it was a gift to our players and a gift to our fans. I was just proud to be part of it." Since the moment he seized control in early 2002, Blank has been part of every facet of the Falcons' rapid turnaround: From jacking up the team's season-ticket sales by more than 100 percent in less than a year, to aggressively pursuing free-agent additions to the roster and paying big to retain their own free agents, and by re-casting the image of the entire team around the excitement and promise generated by its electrifying young quarterback, Michael Vick. To be sure, Blank has had some nice pieces fall in place for him en route to creating Falcons Fever, none more obvious than Vick's ascension to superstar status. But Blank has swiftly capitalized on every turn of good fortune, building a sense of momentum and enthusiasm for his product that is currently matched in only a handful of NFL markets. Even though Atlanta lost its preseason opener 27-21 to Green Bay on Saturday night, none of that good karma really evaporated in the Georgia Dome. After all, the Falcons led 21-3 midway through the second quarter, before the reserves flooded the field, and Vick was outstanding in his 2003 debut, logging a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating in his three series of first-quarter work. Blank may some day find out that being an NFL owner includes healthy doses of losing, frustration, and circumstances beyond his control, but it's so far so good in year two. If he's dreaming, we mustn't wake him. "Our team is excited," Blank said. "The players feel we've improved our team a good bit in the offseason in terms of free agency and the draft choices we made. Our defense is going to be even better than last year, and of course there's the fact that we have a young man in No. 7 who's got a full year under his belt. Those [17] games he played last year should help him tremendously in terms of this season. So I feel like we're in a good position." About lucky No. 7, I asked Blank how nervous it made him to think about how much of his team's fate rests on Vick's talented young shoulders. If per chance Vick should be felled by a significant injury, would the air go out of the Falcons' balloon so fast that the entire franchise would fly around the Georgia Dome backwards for a good minute or two? I liked what Blank had to say on the matter, because his words struck me as both realistic and yet hopeful that he's building something here even larger than just a one-man, one-Mike team. He knows his Falcons wouldn't be the same without Vick, but he wants to believe that they wouldn't be finished either. "I think a certain amount of air would come out," Blank said. "There's no question about that, and I think anybody on this roster would admit that. Of course you worry about it. I spoke to [NFL executive vice president/COO] Roger Goodell just Friday about some matter, and I reported to him that No. 7's in good health. I told him that's important for Atlanta, but it's also important for the NFL. And he said, 'I agree with you, brother.' "Having said that, you know that great teams go on and win even without their No. 1 quarterback. Look at Philadelphia last year. [Donovan] McNabb had a horrible injury and then their next quarterback [Koy Detmer] had a horrible injury, and they went on to win with their third-string quarterback [A.J. Feeley]. You've got to be able to do that in the NFL. So, it's going to happen to us at some point. We're going to have to win at some point without No. 7." But until they do, it's impossible to separate the Falcons' resurgence from Vick's development into a game-changing weapon of unique talents. As the 2003 season begins to unfold, it's instructive to remember just how far both came in 2002. A year ago right now, Vick was an unproven commodity who was considered a running threat first and a passer second. He had just two regular-season starts to his credit, with more career interceptions (three) than touchdown passes (two). As for the Falcons, they were coming off a 7-9 season in which they had lost five of their last six games, and head coach Dan Reeves was believed to be coaching for his job, given the team's three consecutive losing seasons following its unexpected 1998 Super Bowl run. But in 2002, both Vick and the Falcons showed great acceleration. "That's true. The performance on the field came quicker last year than anybody expected," said Blank, of his quarterback and his team. Now the challenge is for both Vick and the Falcons to take the next step together. If they do, the Super Bowl will again be plausible. But first the Falcons have to do away with a streak that hardly anyone seems to be concentrating on these days. In its first 36 seasons of existence, Atlanta has never even posted back-to-back winning seasons, let alone playoff trips. It is a statistic that Blank is well aware of. "I'm thinking about that, a lot," he said. "We have to get rid of that streak, because you don't get into the playoffs unless you snap that. We're not assuming that record is already broken. I know Dan Reeves isn't. He's been a head coach for 23 seasons. He understands he's had a lot of great teams on paper, and a lot of great athletes. But you've got to win the game. He's making sure this team keeps a sense of humility about itself, and the players understand that, too. That's another reason I feel good about this team." One of many in Blank's view. And so far, who in Atlanta could argue? Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.
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