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1966 Atlanta Falcons season
1966 Atlanta Falcons season
Owner	Rankin M. Smith Sr.
Head coach	Norb Hecker
Home field	Atlanta Stadium
Local radio	WSB
Results
Record	3–11
Conference place	7th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	LB Tommy Nobis
	Falcons seasons; 1967 →;

The 1966 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's inaugural season in the National Football League (NFL). The Falcons finished in seventh place in the NFL Eastern Conference with a record of 3–11, ahead of only the New York Giants.

Offseason

The Falcons attempted to acquire Green Bay Packers running back Jim Taylor. There were tensions in Green Bay because the Packers first round pick, Jim Grabowski would be groomed to take over for Taylor.^[1] The signing of Grabowski upset Taylor but he stated he would leave Green Bay once his contract expired, therefore the Falcons could not acquire the running back.

NFL Draft

Due to the addition of the team for the 1966 NFL season, the Falcons were allotted the first pick in all twenty rounds of the 1966 NFL draft, as well as five compensatory picks and the end of the first five rounds.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	1	Tommy Nobis	Linebacker	Texas
1	16	Randy Johnson	Quarterback	Texas A&I
2	17	Nick Rassas	Defensive Back	Notre Dame
2	32	Jerry Jones	Tackle	Bowling Green
3	33	Mike Dennis	Running Back	Mississippi
3	48	Phil Sheridan	Wide Receiver	Notre Dame
4	49	Ken Reaves	Defensive Back	Virginia State
4	64	Willie Asbury	Running Back	Kent State
5	65	Bill Wolski	Running Back	Notre Dame
5	80	Martin Kahn	Tackle	North Texas State
6	81	Charley Casey	Wide Receiver	Florida
7	96	William Johnson	Running Back	University of the South
8	111	Bill Goss	Linebacker	Tulane
9	126	Bob Sanders	Center	North Texas State
10	141	Mike Bender	Guard	Arkansas
11	156	Steve Sloan	Quarterback	Alabama
12	171	Ken Hollister	Tackle	Indiana
13	186	Bob Collins	Tackle	South Carolina
14	201	Steve Ecker	Kicker	Shippensburg
15	216	Tom Tolleson	Wide Receiver	Alabama
16	231	Jim Vining	Guard	Rice
17	246	Lurley Archambeau	Center	Toledo
18	261	Doug Korver	Center	Southern Iowa
19	276	Walt Mainer	Defensive Back	Xavier
20	291	Bob Riggle	Defensive Back	Penn State

Personnel

Staff

**1966 Atlanta Falcons staff**
	Front office President – Rankin M. Smith Sr. Assistant to the president – Bud Erickson Vice president and treasurer – Frank E. Wall Head coaches Head coach – Norb Hecker Offensive coaches Chief offensive – Tom Fears Offensive backfield – George Dickson Offensive line – Brad Ecklund			Defensive coaches Chief defensive – Hal Herring Defensive backfield – John Symank

Roster

The expansion Falcons were allowed to field a roster of 46 players while the rest of the league was limited to 40 during 1966.^[2]

**1966 Atlanta Falcons roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Dennis Claridge 11 Randy Johnson 14 Steve Sloan Running backs (RB) 34 Junior Coffey 37 Perry Lee Dunn 29 Ron Rector 31 Charlie Scales 30 Ernie Wheelwright 44 Bill Wolski FB Wide receivers (WR) 80 Gary Barnes 84 Vern Burke 48 Angelo Coia 25 Alex Hawkins 82 Bob Sherlag 86 Tommy Tolleson Tight ends (TE) 87 Taz Anderson 85 Bill Martin		Offensive linemen (OL) 75 Ed Cook G 67 Dan Grimm G 78 Dick Koeper T 73 Errol Linden T 53 Frank Marchlewski C 66 Jim Simon G 72 Don Talbert T 51 Bob Whitlow C Defensive linemen (DL) 50 Jerry Jones DT 70 Bud Marshall DT 68 Bobby Richards DE 74 Karl Rubke DT 77 Chuck Sieminski DT 71 Joe Szczecko DT		Linebackers (LB) 55 Ralph Heck 57 Bill Jobko 33 Larry Morris 60 Tommy Nobis 52 Marion Rushing Defensive backs (DB) 22 Lee Calland CB 49 Glenn Glass 47 Nick Rassas S 36 Ken Reaves 43 Jerry Richardson SS 20 Bob Riggle S 45 Carl Silvestri 40 Ron Smith CB Special teams 26 Billy Lothridge P 65 Lou Kirouac K 7 Wade Traynham K		Reserve 76 Guy Reese DT (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

The Falcons played their first game (preseason) on August 1, 1966, against the Philadelphia Eagles before a crowd of 26,072 at Atlanta Stadium, a two-point Falcons loss, 9–7.^[3]^[4] In their inaugural regular season, Atlanta played each of the fourteen other teams in the league once. The Falcons lost their first nine regular season games; their first win was on the road against the New York Giants, 27–16, on November 20.^[5]^[6] Former Giant Ernie Wheelwright scored two touchdowns receiving and ran for 51 more yards as QB Randy Johnson hit for a trio of touchdowns.

Their first ever home victory was over the St. Louis Cardinals, 16–10, before 57,169 on December 11.^[7] The Falcons ended their inaugural season at 3–11, yet Tommy Nobis won the NFL Rookie of the Year Award and became the first Falcon named to the Pro Bowl.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 11	Los Angeles Rams	L 14–19	0–1	Atlanta Stadium	54,418	Recap
2	September 18	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–23	0–2	Franklin Field	54,049	Recap
3	September 25	at Detroit Lions	L 10–28	0–3	Tiger Stadium	47,615	Recap
4	October 2	Dallas Cowboys	L 14–47	0–4	Atlanta Stadium	56,990	Recap
5	October 9	at Washington Redskins	L 20–33	0–5	D.C. Stadium	50,116	Recap
6	October 16	San Francisco 49ers	L 7–44	0–6	Atlanta Stadium	54,788	Recap
7	October 23	at Green Bay Packers	L 3–56	0–7	Milwaukee County Stadium	48,623	Recap
8	October 30	Cleveland Browns	L 17–49	0–8	Atlanta Stadium	57,235	Recap
9	Bye
10	November 13	Baltimore Colts	L 7–19	0–9	Atlanta Stadium	58,850	Recap
11	November 20	at New York Giants	W 27–16	1–9	Yankee Stadium	62,746	Recap
12	November 27	at Chicago Bears	L 6–23	1–10	Wrigley Field	44,777	Recap
13	December 4	at Minnesota Vikings	W 20–13	2–10	Metropolitan Stadium	37,117	Recap
14	December 11	St. Louis Cardinals	W 16–10	3–10	Atlanta Stadium	57,169	Recap
15	December 18	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 33–57	3–11	Atlanta Stadium	56,229	Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

A bye week was necessary in 1966, as the league expanded to an odd-number (15) of teams (Atlanta); one team was idle each week.

Game Summaries

Week 1 vs Los Angeles Rams

Week One: Los Angeles Rams (0–0) at Atlanta Falcons (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	3	13	3	0	19
Falcons	0	7	7	0	14

at Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta

Date: September 11
Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C)
Box Score

Game information

First Quarter

Los Angeles – Bruce Gossett 15-yard field goal, Rams 7–0.

Second Quarter

Los Angeles – Jack Snow) 51-yard pass from Roman Gabriel (Gossett kick), Rams 10–0.
Los Angeles – Bruce Gossett 15-yard field goal, Rams 13–0.
Los Angeles – Bruce Gossett 23-yard field goal, Rams 16–0.
Atlanta – Gary Barnes 53-yard pass from Randy Johnson (Traynham kick), Rams 16–7.

Third Quarter

Atlanta – Randy Johnson 3-yard rush (Traynham kick), Rams 16–14.
Los Angeles – Bruce Gossett 22-yard field goal, Rams 19–14.

Fourth Quarter

Top Passers

Rams – Roman Gabriel: 21/35, 294 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Falcons – Randy Johnson: 9/25, 154 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT

Top rushers

Rams – Dick Bass: 14 car, 81 yds.
Falcons – Ernie Wheelwright: 6 car, 91 yds,

Top receivers

Rams– Tommy McDonald: 9 rec, 114 yds
Falcons – Gary Barnes: 1 rec, 53 yds 1 TD

Week 11 at New York Giants

Week Eleven: Atlanta Falcons (0-9) at New York Giants (1-7-1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	7	6	7	7	27
Giants	0	3	7	6	16

at Yankee Stadium, New York City

Date: November 20
Game weather: 36 °F (2 °C)
Box Score

Game information

First Quarter

Atlanta – Ernie Wheelwright 9-yard pass from Randy Johnson (Kirouac kick), Falcons 7–0.

Second Quarter

New York – Pete Gogolak 24-yard field goal, Falcons 7–3.
Atlanta – Vern Burke 8-yard pass from Randy Johnson, Falcons 13–3.

Third Quarter

Atlanta – Ernie Wheelwright 6-yard pass from Randy Johnson (Kirouac kick), Falcons 20–3.
New York – Joe Morrison 25-yard pass from Tom Kennedy (Gogolak kick), Falcons 20–10.

Fourth Quarter

Atlanta – Randy Johnson 3-yard rush (Kirouac kick), Falcons 27–10.
New York – Joe Morrison 12-yard rush, Falcons 27–16.

Top Passers

Falcons – Randy Johnson 15/25, 177 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
Giants – Tom Kennedy: 18/33, 188 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT

Top rushers

Falcons – Junior Coffey: 16 car, 64 yds.
Giants – Joe Morrison: 17 car, 91 yds 1 TD

Top receivers

Falcons– Ernie Wheelwright: 5 rec, 35 yds 2 TD
Giants – Aaron Thomas: 5 rec, 83 yds

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	10	3	1	.769	9–3–1	445	239	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	9	5	0	.643	8–5	326	340	W4
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	9–4	403	259	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	8	5	1	.615	7–5–1	264	265	L3
Washington Redskins	7	7	0	.500	7–6	351	355	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	8	1	.385	4–8–1	316	347	W2
Atlanta Falcons	3	11	0	.214	2–5	204	437	L1
New York Giants	1	12	1	.077	1–11–1	263	501	L8

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	12	2	0	.857	10–2	335	163	W5
Baltimore Colts	9	5	0	.643	7–5	314	226	W1
Los Angeles Rams	8	6	0	.571	6–6	289	212	L1
San Francisco 49ers	6	6	2	.500	5–5–2	320	325	L1
Chicago Bears	5	7	2	.417	4–6–2	234	272	W1
Detroit Lions	4	9	1	.308	3–8–1	206	317	L3
Minnesota Vikings	4	9	1	.308	4–7–1	292	304	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Awards and records

Tommy Nobis, NFL Rookie of the Year^[8]

References

^ When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss,p. 385, Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 978-0-684-84418-3
^ John Duxbury and Larry Shainman (eds.), Football Register, 1968. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1968; p. 3.
^ "Fledgling Falcons lose, but scare Philadelphia". Rome News-Tribune. Georgia. UPI. August 2, 1966. p. 7.
^ "Falcons drop close game; grid squabbles continue". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. August 2, 1966. p. 13.
^ "Falcons finally make it - cut down Giants for first victory". Rome News-Tribune. Georgia. Associated Press. November 21, 1966. p. 8.
^ "Major Events in Falcons History" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, NFL
^ "Atlanta 'stacks 'Cards' against St. Louis, 16-10". Rome News-Tribune. Georgia. Associated Press. December 12, 1966. p. 8.
^ "Sporting News Rookie of the Year Winners". Pro Football Reference.