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1989 Atlanta Falcons season
1989 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coach	Marion Campbell (fired November 28, 3-9 record); Jim Hanifan (interim; 0-4 record)
Home field	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	3–13
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	1 G Bill Fralic ;
	← 1988; Falcons seasons; 1990 →;

The 1989 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise’s 24th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Falcons drafted Deion Sanders with their first round pick in the NFL Draft. Marion Campbell retired after the twelfth game of the season.^[1]

Despite having Sanders in their defensive backfield, the Falcons surrendered 7.59 yards per pass attempt (including quarterback sacks) in 1989, one of the ten worst totals in NFL history.^[2]

The latter part of the season was marred by two tragedies. On November 24, rookie offensive tackle Ralph Norwood was killed in an automobile accident eight miles from the Falcons’ training facilities.^[3] Just under a month later, on December 19, backup tight end Brad Beckman was also killed in an auto accident.^[4] It marked the death of three players of the team in the space of two seasons (the previous year, cornerback David Croudip died of an overdose).

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1989 Atlanta Falcons draft
1	5	Deion Sanders * ^†	Cornerback	Florida State
1	27	Shawn Collins	Wide receiver	Northern Arizona
2	38	Ralph Norwood	Offensive tackle	LSU
3	62	Keith Jones	Running back	Illinois
6	145	Troy Sadowski	Tight end	Georgia
7	172	Undra Johnson	Running back	West Virginia
8	202	Paul Singer	Quarterback	Western Illinois
9	229	Chris Dunn	Linebacker	Cal Poly
11	286	Greg Paterra	Running back	Slippery Rock
12	313	Tony Bowick	Defensive tackle	Chattanooga
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[5]

Undrafted free agents

1989 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player	Position	College
Oscar Angulo	Tight end	Eastern Kentucky
Norris Blount	Cornerback	Baylor
Deon Booker	Running back	Louisville
Ivan Cook	Linebacker	Washington State
Tyreese Knox	Running back	Nebraska
Steve McMillon	Cornerback	Wyoming
Maury Metcalf	Linebacker	Washington State
Mark Millett	Tight end	Southwest Texas State
Kevin Simien	Wide receiver	Fort Hays State
Alonzo Washington	Running back	Arizona

Personnel

Staff

**1989 Atlanta Falcons staff**
	Front office Chairman of the board — Rankin M. Smith Sr. President — Rankin M. Smith, Jr. Executive vice president — Taylor Smith Director of player personnel — Ken Herock Director of pro scouting — Chuck Connor Head coaches Head coach — Marion Campbell Offensive coaches Assistant head coach/offense — Jim Hanifan Offensive coordinator — Rod Dowhower Running backs — Steve Crosby Receivers — Jimmy Raye Tight ends — Foge Fazio			Defensive coaches Assistant head coach/defense — Fred Bruney Defensive line — Tommy Brasher Linebackers _ Chuck Clausen Defensive assistant — Claude Humphrey Special teams coaches Special teams — Foge Fazio Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning — Tim Jorgensen

Roster

**1989 Atlanta Falcons roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Scott Campbell 7 Hugh Millen 12 Chris Miller Running backs (RB) 38 Keith Jones 33 Gene Lang 36 Greg Paterra 44 John Settle Wide receivers (WR) 82 Stacey Bailey 85 Shawn Collins 86 Floyd Dixon 81 Michael Haynes 89 George Thomas Tight ends (TE) 80 Ron Heller 45 Ken Whisenhunt 87 Gary Wilkins		Offensive linemen (OL) 74 Stan Clayton G 64 Jamie Dukes C 79 Bill Fralic G 69 Houston Hoover T 68 John Hunter G 75 Mike Kenn T 55 Wayne Radloff C 66 Tommy Robison Defensive linemen (DL) 70 Tony Bowick DT 75 Tony Casillas DT 76 Mike Gann DE 67 Malcolm Taylor DE 72 Ben Thomas DE		Linebackers (LB) 93 Aundray Bruce OLB 51 Marcus Cotton OLB 99 Tim Green OLB 59 John Rade ILB 95 Michael Reid ILB 53 Galand Thaxton ILB 58 Jessie Tuggle ILB 54 Joel Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 23 Bobby Butler CB 20 Evan Cooper SS 22 Charles Dimry CB 41 Tim Gordon FS 40 Brian Jordan SS 34 Robert Moore S 21 Deion Sanders CB 32 Tony Zackery CB Special teams 65 Guy Bingham LS 5 Greg Davis K 17 Scott Fulhage P		Practice squad 28 Undra Johnson RB 24 Darron Norris RB 96 Benji Roland DE 45 Troy Sadowski TE 83 Kevin Simien WR 9 Paul Singer QB Reserve 77 Rick Bryan DE (IR) 25 Scott Case CB (IR) 3 Rick Donnelly P (PUP) 88 Alex Higdon TE (PUP) 6 Paul McFadden K (IR) 27 Steve McMillon CB (IR) 49 James Primus RB (IR) 37 Elbert Shelley S (IR) Rookies in italics 47 active, 8 reserve, 6 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 10	Los Angeles Rams	L 21–31	0–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	38,708
2	September 17	Dallas Cowboys	W 27–21	1–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	55,285
3	September 24	at Indianapolis Colts	L 9–13	1–2	Hoosier Dome	57,816
4	October 1	at Green Bay Packers	L 21–23	1–3	Milwaukee County Stadium	54,647
5	October 8	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–26	1–4	Anaheim Stadium	52,182
6	October 15	New England Patriots	W 16–15	2–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	39,697
7	October 22	at Phoenix Cardinals	L 20–34	2–5	Sun Devil Stadium	33,894
8	October 29	at New Orleans Saints	L 13–20	2–6	Louisiana Superdome	65,153
9	November 5	Buffalo Bills	W 30–28	3–6	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	45,267
10	November 12	at San Francisco 49ers	L 3–45	3–7	Candlestick Park	59,914
11	November 19	New Orleans Saints	L 17–26	3–8	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	53,173
12	November 26	at New York Jets	L 7–27	3–9	Giants Stadium	40,429
13	December 3	San Francisco 49ers	L 10–23	3–10	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	43,128
14	December 10	at Minnesota Vikings	L 17–43	3–11	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	58,116
15	December 17	Washington Redskins	L 30–31	3–12	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	37,501
16	December 24	Detroit Lions	L 24–31	3–13	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	7,792
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 9

Buffalo Bills (6–2) at Atlanta Falcons (2–6)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	7	0	14	7	28
• Falcons	0	3	17	10	30

Date: Sunday November 5, 1989
Location: Fulton County Stadium — Atlanta, Georgia
Game start: 1:00pm EST
Game attendance: 45,267
Game weather: 56 °F (13.3 °C); wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn)
Referee: Bob McElwee
TV announcers (NFL on NBC): Joel Meyers and Paul Maguire

^[6] This would be the final win of the season for Atlanta.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers⁽¹⁾	14	2	0	.875	5–1	10–2	442	253	W5
Los Angeles Rams⁽⁵⁾	11	5	0	.688	4–2	8–4	426	344	W2
New Orleans Saints	9	7	0	.563	3–3	5–7	386	301	W3
Atlanta Falcons	3	13	0	.188	0–6	1–11	279	437	L7