Osiruz Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 In 1975, Steve Bartkowski sat where Joe Burrow does today. The Falcons traded with the Colts a few days before the draft and selected the Cal quarterback with the No. 1 overall choice. The Falcons were bad before Bartkowski got there. They were bad for three years after he arrived and won only one playoff game in the quarterback’s 11 seasons in Atlanta. That’s why Bartkowski recommended to Burrow that he “pull an Eli Manning” and strong-arm his way out of going to Cincinnati. “[Cincinnati] is not the best organization,” Bartkowski said Monday, via Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “You know, times change; things change. Atlanta wasn’t a good organization until Arthur Blank bought the team [in 2002]. It was a terrible organization. They didn’t know the right hand from the left to be honest. “I know what it’s like to go to a bottom-feeder team. I’d hate to see that happen to him to be honest. They beat me up. I spent more time at the hospital recuperating from injuries my first three years than I did throwing touchdowns. It was tough.” Bartkowksi and Burrow met at a Davey O’Brien Award event Sunday night in Fort Worth. That’s when Bartkowski, who is in the Falcons’ Ring of Honor, advised Burrow and his family to just say no to Cincinnati. “They’re Ohio guys,” Bartkowski said. “I might’ve offended them by telling them that, [but] if it’s the Bengals, I think I’d pull an Eli Manning on that one. I said, ‘You’ve got a chance to do that. That’s happened.’ [John] Elway kind of set the tone, then the Mannings delved into it after Eli was picked by San Diego.” The LSU quarterback danced around the subject Monday, saying “if they select me, they select me.” But Burrow also acknowledged he has “leverage” as the Heisman Trophy winner and best player in the draft. “I do have leverage,” Burrow said. “They have their process and I have my process. We haven’t even gotten to the Combine yet. There’s a lot of things that happen leading up to the draft and a lot of information gathered. “Right now, I’m focused on being the best football player I can be. I’m in this unique spot. You can go watch my film. I don’t have to prove myself at pro day and at the Combine, so I’m in a unique spot where I can focus on getting ready for the year.” Burrow said he has not talked to Carson Palmer, the No. 1 overall choice of the Bengals in 2003 and the brother of Burrow’s private quarterbacks coach, Jordan. Carson Palmer recently ripped the Bengals for not being driven to win. “If we do have the conversation, it’ll happen down the road,” Burrow said. “We’re super focused. I’ve only been there a week. It’s all ball right now.” https://www.yahoo.com/sports/former-no-1-overall-pick-023005908.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya_boi_j Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Well that’s one way to put it UK13, MarkMc44 and DonOfThemBirds 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonOfThemBirds Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Yup, Falcons were awful and one of the worst ran NFL franchises before Blank. Playing for last place just about every year was a testament to fans will lol. Fans complain that recent years were bad, at one time the Falcons were like the Patriots of losing for some time. Flat out stunk. Falcon from E, freakyfalcon, PokerSteve and 13 others 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonOfThemBirds Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 1 hour ago, ya_boi_j said: Well that’s one way to put it Bengals owner Mike Brown is very cheap. He's also one of the only few owners who makes their living solely off of their team. Bartkowski is right, Burrow and his camp needs to realize that the Bengals are bad because of the ownership and not just because they play bad on Sundays. Burrow won't fix anything in Cincinnati if Brown continues to not wanting to spend. The Bengals are probably on their hands and knees praying that Burrow doesn't have a discussion with Palmer before the draft. Falcon from E, GreggT, Charles Wright and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ya_boi_j Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 8 minutes ago, DawnOfThemBirds said: Bengals owner Mike Brown is very cheap. He's also one of the only few owners who makes their living solely off of their team. Bartkowski is right, Burrow and his camp needs to realize that the Bengals are bad because of the ownership and not just because they play bad on Sundays. Burrow won't fix anything in Cincinnati if Brown continues to not wanting to spend. The Bengals are probably on their hands and knees praying that Burrow doesn't have a discussion with Palmer before the draft. Don't know if he's talked to him but he has spoken on it. And I'm sure Burrow has at least heard one thing https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/31/former-bengals-qb-carson-palmer-has-warning-joe-burrow/ https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2020/02/06/solomon-wilcots-carson-palmer-warning-joe-burrow-bengals/ DonOfThemBirds and MoFalconsFan56 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiruz Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 10 minutes ago, DawnOfThemBirds said: Bengals owner Mike Brown is very cheap. He's also one of the only few owners who makes their living solely off of their team. Bartkowski is right, Burrow and his camp needs to realize that the Bengals are bad because of the ownership and not just because they play bad on Sundays. Burrow won't fix anything in Cincinnati if Brown continues to not wanting to spend. The Bengals are probably on their hands and knees praying that Burrow doesn't have a discussion with Palmer before the draft. They've had a decent team as of late though. Aj green, Boyd, and Eifert are good players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherdome Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 The Falcons were run by a bunch of rednecks that did not have the financial dedication it takes to build a winner. The Clampetts, as they were nicknamed, were a terrible outfit. Players like Nobis, Kenn and Bartkowski were certainly good enough to be inducted into he HOF. But, thanks to the losing atmosphere, established by Rankin Smith, they will never have their busts enshrined. Bartkowski makes a very good point. Burrow should consider stiff-arming the Bengals. He would have a slightly better chance of a notable career by forcing a trade with the Dolphins. blizzard_falcon, BamaBirdLady and ratesforless 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithful Falcon Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 If you really wanna shake your head, go back to the 1990 NFL Draft. ratesforless 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandy Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Always knew he felt this way, but I’m kinda Surprise Bart was that direct in media about his time with falcons. YungFalco, The Great American, FalconsIn2012 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiruz Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 40 minutes ago, Vandy said: Always knew he felt this way, but I’m kinda Surprise Bart was that direct in media about his time with falcons. I think it's a loser's attitude. Glad Matt Ryan and Julio Jones didnt do that to us. Pat Mahomes could have done that to the chiefs, and Murray to the Cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spts1 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 But the NFL is supposed to be a " privilege ". What makes Elway, Manning and Burrow exempt from that and above the team that drafts them? FA91, ATLSlobberKnockers and Gee-Q 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RING OF HONOR Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 I would seriously laugh if he did that to the Bengals...because Burrow is all they talk about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAD597 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 This is one of the worst Franchises in pro sports, really some consideration should be put into shutting the franchise down or moving it somewhere else and allowing this city to start over with a new team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRUNKuno Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Yet people on these boards think Blank is a meddling owner that can’t do anything right and is too much in the spotlight gtfoh ratesforless, ROMERO, Artys Arryn and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROMERO Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Funny the media and former players got nothing better to do and try to get into Burrow's head by bad mouthing the Bengals. Yes their owner is cheap and the team would be better off with a new owner. Media needs to shut their mouths and let the kid do what he wants. Im not defending the Bengals but let the kid be happy about being in the NFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddieman Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, MAD597 said: This is one of the worst Franchises in pro sports, really some consideration should be put into shutting the franchise down or moving it somewhere else and allowing this city to start over with a new team. How about you moving on to another team. That makes more sense to me!.........just sayen. Just realized you might be talking about Cincinnati. If you were sorry, if you weren’t above stands. Edited February 18, 2020 by Caddieman youngbloodz and AUTiger7222 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAD597 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, Caddieman said: How about you moving on to another team. That makes more sense to me!.........just sayen. No, I will rightfully vent about how bad this team is until I don't feel like it anymore or they actually prove me wrong. After the decades of crap they have put the fans through this team deserves nothing but criticism from it's fan base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratesforless Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) While I would rather be part of a turnaround or a paradigm shift in terms of changing a franchise, I can see Bartkowski's point. Many of us oldheads remember spending many a Sunday afternoon in a half-empty, run down AFCS watching Rankin's boys get their backs blown out by Montana's 49ers or Dickerson's Rams. And that was the only way you'd get to see them play at home because so most of the games were blacked out, with many of the road games shown on TV being so gruesome that it may have violated our 8th Amendment rights. And please don't get me started on the dark ages between '84-90 when a 7-win season was the high water mark, no coach of worth wanted to come here, and folks on the team were turning up dead during the week. While I had no doubt that the Smiths wanted to win, they were as tight with their $$$ as Hugh Culverhouse was running the Bucs or Mike Brown currently is with the Bengals. Believe me, if the 1996 Summer Olympics weren't in play for Atlanta to get back in the late-'80s along with the chance to host a Super Bowl or two, there would have been little/no incentive for taxpayers to sign off on adding the motel/hotel tax necessary to build the Georgia Dome. And without that, this team would've been in Jacksonville after the '90 season. While things haven't gone according to plan since that game, I'll gladly take AB roaming the sidelines over anything the Clampetts...err...Smiths were doing. No doubt that Nobis and Tuggle would've already been in the HOF by now. And there's no chance in the blazing, blue h3ll that AB would've allowed so many guys to walk after the '80 season or fired Leeman Bennett after a playoff year in '82. While we all want better than what we've seen, it's still better than what we had... Edited February 18, 2020 by ratesforless Andrews_31 and GreggT 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD dirtybird21 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 All the fans who weren’t around during the Bart days should really listen to what he’s saying here...and take a step back and understand just what Blank, Dimitroff, and Ryan have really done for this franchise. These guys get a ton of hate from very unappreciative fans. In reality, since Blank became owner, the falcons have been to 3 conference championship games. They had been to 1 before Blank in the entire franchises history. Since Dimitroff became GM, the falcons have the 7th best winning percentage in the NFL. Ryan has the franchises only MVP, and will retire likely in the top 2 all time in NFL passing yards, and probably top 5 in passing TD’s. Y’all are going to miss these guys when they’re gone Ovie_Lover, BamaBirdLady, PokerSteve and 19 others 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HASHBROWN3 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Ok then. So what happens if the Bengals draft him no matter how Burrow feels about it? Does he refuse to sign his contract or just not show up to camp in Cincinnati? What are the legal ramifications for each party? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E. T. Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, JD dirtybird21 said: All the fans who weren’t around during the Bart days should really listen to what he’s saying here...and take a step back and understand just what Blank, Dimitroff, and Ryan have really done for this franchise. These guys get a ton of hate from very unappreciative fans. In reality, since Blank became owner, the falcons have been to 3 conference championship games. They had been to 1 before Blank in the entire franchises history. Since Dimitroff became GM, the falcons have the 7th or 8th best winning percentage in the NFL. Ryan has the franchises only MVP, and will retire likely in the top 2 all time in passing yards. Y’all are going to miss these guys when they’re gone Every long time fan will totally agree, I know I do. The newer fans have no clue just how bad things were. They may have read or been told about it, but never experienced the "Dark Days" for themselves. Since 2007 to now, this has been by far the best stretch of seasons in franchise history. AUTiger7222, JD dirtybird21, wuskillzz and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD dirtybird21 Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 3 minutes ago, E. T. said: Every long time fan will totally agree, I know I do. The newer fans have no clue just how bad things were. They may have read or been told about it, but never experienced the "Dark Days" for themselves. Since 2007 to now, this has been by far the best stretch of seasons in franchise history. In the 18 seasons that Blank has been owner, the Falcons have played in 14 playoff games. In the 35 years prior to his ownership? 10 total playoff games ratesforless and E. T. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E. T. Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 I can't blame Bart for sharing a little knowledge to a young up and coming phenom who might experience the same brutality that he did. I'd do the same... Francis York Morgan and ratesforless 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octoslash Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Poor Burrow, it must be such a painful life, the burden of a mid 20s National Champ with a gorgeous girl and a 75% completion percentage, having to put up with a guaranteed half-billion dollar future bank account. Remember Joe, if it gets too much tougher to be alive, there's always a pocket full of rocks and the Ohio River. GreggT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E. T. Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 1 minute ago, JD dirtybird21 said: In the 18 seasons that Blank has been owner, the Falcons have played in 14 playoff games. In the 35 years prior to his ownership? 10 total playoff games You're right. Let me correct myself, since Blank has been owner since '02. JD dirtybird21 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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