Pics From Falcons Training Camp

[BlueSky]

Each year I try to get to somebody's training camp. Well, by somebody I mean either the Saints or Falcons, because the Saints are my team but metro Atlanta is where I live. So if I can't travel to where the Saints are, I just bite the bullet and go watch the hated Falcons.

There were several hundred fans there, including this little guy. Interestingly, there was not a single Vick jersey anywhere to be seen.

Matty Ice leads the other mere mortal QBs out onto the field. L to R, Chris Redman, John Parker Wilson, D.J. Shockley, and Ryan.

PR Eric Weems heads upfield during special teams drills.

D.J. Shockley, a former Georgia Bulldog, is a fan favorite and came over to say hello to the crowd.

Shockley practices pitchouts:

More to come...

[BlueSky]

Hey, who's the new guy? Off-season acquisition TE Tony Gonzalez gets acquainted with his new surroundings.

The one-on-one blocking drills were probably the most entertaining part of practice.

I saw two things I'd never seen before. One was a direct-snap flea-flicker, the other was lining up and running plays in full uniform but no helmets.

I'm as big a fan as the next guy, but this guy takes the cake. Yeah, that's a fan, and where he got Falcon game pants and socks I have no idea. The staff knew the guy and called him 'Stats' - he walked up and down with the megaphone yelling out background info with the recall of Rain Man and the delivery of a boxing match announcer. He'd pick a player and rattle off everything from the guy's birthday to his college stats to last year's numbers. A little scary to be honest.

[BlueSky]

At right, with the belly (#94 but it's hard to see the number), is first round pick Peria Jerry.

The Burner turns the corner.

Ryan and Norwood in the shotgun. This was the play where they ran the direct-snap flea-flicker.

Chris Houston gets coached up by Mike Smith, who looks like he should be driving a Land Rover in search of wildebeests.

Soon after, the spirited O vs D drills resumed. The linebacker tried unsuccessfully to strip the ball on this play.

So what exactly does a 4th string QB like John Parker Wilson do? Plays DB on the scrub defense while the real D is off doing their own drills. Note the military VIP guests in the background.

He got to play some offense too though.

All in all, a fun way to spend a summer morning.

[BrySmalls]

Nice photos! Looks like an enjoyable experience.

[Dnice]

Pretty cool, too bad that guy doing the flip in my avatar isn't around.

[scottysprings]

Nice photos, must've been a great time!

[TFoA]

Seems like you had a great time watching the enemy there, eh? Yeah, the Falcons have done a great job of making training camp as accessible as possible to the fan ever since they moved it to the Branch. I always try to go to at least one or two a year, because that's about as close as I might get. I'm gonna be up in the branch soon. Hopefully #84 comes sooner.

lol @ Stat Guy. I would question him about how he got all of that stuff, but I don't want to get that man in trouble.

As far as the "running plays with no helmets but full pads" thing, we used to do that in high school. Of course we didn't do full contact, but we normally did it during walkthroughs since the coaches said "We could analyze better without a few pounds of equipment on our heads."