wrong thread

theathletic.com/2801337/2021/08/31/schultz-falcons-arthur-blank-opens-up-on-deteriorating-relationship-with-julio-jones/?amp

ATLANTA — Arthur Blank has done a number of things right during his tenure as the Falcons’ owner, not the least of which is becoming both emotionally and financially invested in his product. But there’s a string of words the man never will again allow himself to say when it comes to pending contract negotiations with a star player: “Falcon for life.”

Those words, spoken by the fan within Blank and intended to show support for his beloved players, backfired on him with Julio Jones. Blank acknowledged for the first time the extent to which the relationship between the team and Jones had deteriorated, which initially was reported in April by The Athletic and then to a much greater degree in May, two weeks before the wide receiver was traded to Tennessee.

Blank, who briefly spoke on Jones’ departure at the outset of training camp, went far deeper on the subject in an interview with The Athletic on Tuesday, saying he was perplexed by why Jones felt disrespected by the organization, acknowledged that the player’s relationship with some “in the building” had frayed and that Jones’ infrequent availability to practice had become a significant issue with the front office and coaches.

The subject of Jones came up when Blank was asked what responsibility he shares for the recent bad fortunes of his two pro sports franchises, the Falcons (who are coming off three straight losing seasons, leading to the firings of head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff) and Atlanta United (who fired two head coaches in 11 months).

Specifically, when asked about large contracts he awarded to Falcons players, Blank said, “It’s easy to look back with hindsight and say, ‘Should we have done that?’ Look back at the Julio situation in 2019. We, being Thomas, coach Quinn, the player and his agent (Jimmy Sexton), were all kind of at odds with each other. We got a contract done. We felt it was very generous. It made him the top paid receiver in NFL history (with $64 million of $66 million guaranteed). But for whatever reason, he felt it wasn’t sufficient respect. I don’t know why he’d feel that way, but he did feel that way.”

And the relationship was never the same?

“No. Not really. It changed,” Blank said. “And if you spoke to the players on the team, not that they would say anything, but I think they would tell you the same thing.

“He just wasn’t … Look, he gave us 10 great years. He’s going to be a Hall of Fame player. He was a good teammate for all that period of time. (But) his ability or willingness to practice the way he did early in his career was different. There were some people who were in the building who had an effect on him. He wanted out, and the last thing coach (Arthur) Smith wants is a player who doesn’t want to be here.”

A source previously said Smith was well aware of Jones’ trade request before taking the Falcons’ job. Smith also was not enthusiastic about having a star receiver who seldom practiced, particularly when Smith is trying to establish a work ethic and a way of doing things in his first season as the head coach.

When asked if he would ever again say he wanted a player to be a “Falcon for life,” Blank chuckled, then said, “Well, I would say the purpose of it was very well-intended. I probably won’t use it because, as things turn out, obviously, where I’ve used it a couple of times, it turns out not to be true. It’s really a sign of respect and intent. I’d feel the same way about Grady (Jarrett). Why wouldn’t I want him to be a Falcon for life? He’s a great player, an outstanding leader, and you understand why he was a captain of the Clemson team. But there are things that happen in the business that sometimes make that unachievable.”

Blank addressed a number of other topics during a 30-minute interview in his Buckhead family office, including:

What he wants his legacy as an owner to be:“I’d like people to look back and say, ‘He was a really good owner, and he put competitive products on the field, and he built a winning franchise.’ And that’s my biggest disappointment in the last three years because we got away from that. We had that, starting with Jim Mora (who went to an NFC title game), and then Jim flipped out. Jim’s a smart guy and a great football coach, but whatever it was, it was. Then we had a great run with Mike Smith, and we had a real good run with Dan Quinn for a while. But the last three years was not acceptable. And I think people would want to feel that we invested heavily in the fan experience, and they want to look back on an owner who says he contributed a lot (to society), he cares about more than just winning. We get paid to win, but we also get paid to make a difference in people’s lives.”

On whether he would ever sell the team: “We have no plans for the franchise to not be in the family. We are required once a year to submit a succession plan to the NFL. The league went through difficult (family estate) situations with the Saints, Denver and Indianapolis. … I’m sure (late Broncos owner) Pat Bowlen, God bless him, is flipping in his grave because of the difficulties with his family. It’s not a happy thing. (Late Saints owner) Tom Benson, you know what happened. It was ugly.”

On whether he self-evaluates: “I self-evaluate everything every day. I’m just wired that way. It’s part of our culture: How do we get better. It’s like the old story about the lion and the gazelle. When they get up in the morning, they both better be running, or one’s going to be eaten, or the other is going to die of hunger. So when you get up, you better be moving.”

On whether he blames himself for failures of his franchises: “One of my favorite sayings is, ‘Blame is for God and children.’ I’m neither child nor God, obviously. … I would say what I’ve learned is when you bring in a (soccer) coach who has no exposure to MLS, you have to understand that their experience in training and building a roster, that the rules of the road in Major League Soccer are different than (English Premier League) or the Mexican league and the leagues in Italy or Germany. You have to account for that.”

And the Falcons? “People would say I should’ve let Dan go after the second losing year. I felt with the (6-2 record) in the second half, I had no reason to think that wasn’t going to continue. That didn’t happen. When change is necessary (fans) expect an owner, me in this case, to step up and be responsible for my responsibilities. I had to make a choice: What’s best for the franchise?”

On his desire to hire a head coach with an offensive background (Mora, Mike Smith and Quinn all were former defensive coordinators): “At one point we had a running game that was consistent and efficient, and it’s become clear that when you can’t run the ball, even when you score points, you can’t contain the other team. You can’t keep putting your defense on the field. You can’t close out games, which has been a big problem for us. Another thing that was attractive to me with coach (Arthur) Smith was his success in the red zone. His background and emphasis on the running game and his scheme sold me. Some of it was (Tennessee Titans running back) Derrick Henry but not all of it. I feel a lot better about our offense. If you run the ball, you control the game, you control the clock. You go back to the Super Bowl. It’s 28-3. If we never threw the ball again, we would’ve had an even higher percentage of chance to win that game. It’s not a criticism of Matt (Ryan) or the great receivers we’ve had, Julio, Roddy White, Calvin Ridley. And his personality — he’s very much committed to having 53 guys, holding them responsible and accountable for what their work is. It doesn’t make a difference how much a player is getting paid.”

On general manager Terry Fontenot: “Terry has unique experience in an area we haven’t done a great job in, and that’s the pro (personnel) side. He did that most of his career in New Orleans, and he came out of an organization, which is difficult for a Falcons person to say, that was very well run and excelled at the highest level, and not just because of the quarterback and the coach. Mickey Loomis is one of the more highly respected general managers. They’ve been active in free agency, but not active in Day 1 or 2 of free agency, more in Day 4 or 5. They’ve picked up some really good players and understanding their schemes, have plugged them in and played at a high level.”

On whether he would consider following the lead of the Raiders and Saints and mandate fans either be vaccinated or submit a clean test result before being allowed to attend home games: “We don’t require that today, and we don’t have any plans to do that. But the rules of engagement with this COVID Delta variant change all the time. We’ll do what we’ve always done, which is follow the science, follow the medical advice. I’m comfortable with where we are now, but that’s not to say we won’t change.

Full article @Red_Bandana @bigmancam @Goldmenace404 @SHLIMEEEE

hate to see the family break apart

idk why blank talkin about it tho should be more respectful of the 🐐

Man that article something else

Could and should've been 5-1

Arthur Smith said Ridley was ready to go before the game, but they decided to keep him out

These sorry mfs really ain’t won a game in Mercedes Benz since November last year

Say what you want about Matt Ryan, he would never hoe a team around like Watson did us. Hope he still wants to stay here after this

Updates coming

End of an era

We need to get Malik

You like Malik more than stroud or young?

Hell no. It’s hard to predict what this front office will do tbh

Sell the team

The soccer team makes that stadium anyway

Matty jerseys on sale for $49-$59 on fanatics @bigmancam @Pesos_Euros @Goldmenace404 @Mechanical

Copped a throwback one

I got this to remember my boy

😭

Another WR in the first aight cool lol

Honestly I think they should take Malik Willis idk not how young is going to transition into the pros he definitely gotta get his weight up

Desmond Ritter dude are you s***ting me? Who tf is in charge of this draft?