Atlanta Falcons
The oldest major professional sports team in America with no championships.
via Wikipedia: 2025 Atlanta Falcons season · see source
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons were founded on June 30, 1965, and joined the NFL in 1966 as an expansion team, after the NFL offered then-owner Rankin Smith a franchise to keep him from joining the rival American Football League (AFL).
Quick Facts
- Conference
- NFC
Lore & Background
In their 59 years of existence, the Falcons have compiled a record of 398–512–6 (in the regular season and in the playoffs), winning division championships in 1980, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2012, and 2016. The Falcons have appeared in two Super Bowls, the first during the 1998 season in Super Bowl XXXIII, where they lost to the Denver Broncos and the second 18 years later, a overtime loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. They are the oldest major professional sports team in America with no championships.
Reader's Guide
The Falcons' current home field is Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened for the 2017 season; the team's headquarters and practice facilities are located at a 50 acre site in Flowery Branch, northeast of Atlanta in Hall County.
Did You Know?
- The Falcons were named after a suggestion by Miss Julia Elliott, a school teacher from Griffin, who wrote: 'the Falcon is proud and dignified, with great courage and fight. It never drops its prey.
- The Falcons' first victory came on November 20, 1966, against the New York Giants in Yankee Stadium.
- The Falcons' first playoff appearance was in the 1978 season, when they won the Wild Card game against the Philadelphia Eagles 14–13.
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