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1989 Atlanta Falcons season

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1989 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coachMarion Campbell (fired November 28, 3-9 record)
Jim Hanifan (interim; 0-4 record)
Home fieldFulton County Stadium
Results
Record3–13
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
1

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

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NFL Draft

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Main article: 1989 NFL draft
1989 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
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

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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

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Staff

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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

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams — Foge Fazio

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning — Tim Jorgensen


Roster

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1989 Atlanta Falcons roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
47 active, 8 reserve, 6 practice squad

Regular season

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Schedule

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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

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Week 9

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Buffalo Bills (6–2) at Atlanta Falcons (2–6)
1 234Total
Bills 7 0147 28
• Falcons 0 31710 30

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

Standings

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NFC West
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

Awards and records

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  • Shawn Collins, led all NFL rookie wide receivers in receptions (58)

Milestones

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The Falcons drew a franchise-low attendance of 7,792 for their finale, a 31–24 loss to the Detroit Lions on December 24.[7]

References

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  1. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.98
  2. ^ Cold Hard Football Facts: Ryan Kalil ad: Carolina D not up to the task
  3. ^ "PRO FOOTBALL; No Drug Found in Falcon". The New York Times. November 26, 1989.
  4. ^ "Sports News Briefs; Car Crash Kills Falcon Tight End". The New York Times. December 19, 1989.
  5. ^ "1989 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  6. ^ [1]. Retrieved 2020-Jul-09.
  7. ^ New York Times December 25, 1989
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