In what alternate reality would you believe the Falcons were being trained by this guy?FALCONS IN MMA
Looks like their are some Falcons training MMA this off-season. As an Atlanta Falcon fan and an avid MMA fan this immediately interested me. Randy Couture, Jay Glazer and Frank Trigg have a company called MMAthletics and they help professional athletes incorporate MMA training in with their regularly training. Up until now they have been working with individual athletes but now apparently they are working with the Falcons franchise. Alex Marvez of Foxsports.com has a great article up about it. Alex Marvez interviewed Falcons GM Thomas Dimetroff and TD said they are doing this in part for conditioning and in part for help with their leverage, hand quickness, and helping them battle in the trenches and also while taking on blocks. The only Falcon interviewed in Marvez's article was starting MLB Curtis Lofton (other than TD and Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith). Another positive listed besidees the physical implications is the bond being built among the guys training. Curtis Lofton talked about forming a bond with the guys he's training with and it helping them build trust with one another. Glazer also had a great quote about trying to make the guys more violent and breaking down their opponents and having their opponents not want to face them anymore by the end of the game. This could lead to some fantastic things. Reggie Bush is running up the middle and Curtis Lofton pulls guard pops off his helmet and chokes him out in a guillotine. John Abraham blitzes Drew Brees and rolls him up into a knee bar. Steve Smith goes for a catch and Thomas DeCoud hits him with a judo throw. I could get used to this. Harvey Dahl is one nasty guy, I can't imagine what he will be like after training MMA. But seriously, I'm interested to see how this impacts the team and if it will be something that they roll out to the entire team at some point.
THE SCHEDULE
So the schedule came out and I'm not a huge schedule guy but it's fun to look at. Last year the NFL bent the Falcons over and tried to commit Ben Roethlispenis on them by having them lead the league with games against teams coming off byes. This year we start with Pittsburgh, which will be a tough game especially in Pitt but it will be without their starting hedonist. The Falcons bye is right in the middle of the season this year and we end with 2 home games (although one is against the World Champion Saints) so that's good news. I'm not going to break the schedule down (that will be a post later on after the draft chatter and before the season starts) but here is what the schedule looks like:
Week 1: Sunday, Sep. 12, at Pittsburgh, 1:00 PM
Week 2: Sunday, Sep. 19, Arizona, 1:00 PM
Week 3: Sunday, Sep. 26, at New Orleans, 1:00 PM
Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 3, San Francisco, 1:00 PM
Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 10, at Cleveland, 1:00 PM
Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 17, at Philadelphia, 1:00 PM
Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 24, Cincinnati, 1:00 PM
Week 8: BYE
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 7, Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM
Week 10: Thursday, Nov. 11, Baltimore, 8:20 PM
Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 21, at St. Louis, 4:05 PM
Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 28, Green Bay, 1:00 PM
Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 5, at Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM
Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 12, at Carolina, 1:00 PM
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 19, at Seattle, 4:05 PM
Week 16: Monday, Dec. 27, New Orleans, 8:30 PM
Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 2, Carolina, 1:00 PM
DRAFT THOUGHTS
I've already posted a little about this in a past blog but with the draft coming up later this week I thought I would revisit my thoughts going into the draft. We have the #19 pick in the draft and this feels like a good place to be with the talent that should be available. I think TD might try and move down and pick up extra picks but if he stays here then these are the Top 3 guys I want picked with the #19 pick:
#1 C.J. Spiller- RB/Clemson- he's going to be gone by this time but if for some reason he slips a CJ/Turner backfield would be too good to pass up.
#2 Brandon Graham- DE/Michigan- this is the guy most mock drafts have us picking and he fills our #1 need.
#3 Sean Witherspoon- LB/Missouri- he brings energy and confidence. Two things our defense needs. We also need line backers.
Looking deeper into the draft the Falcons do not have a 2nd round pick but do have two 3rds (#83, #98) and a 4th (#117). Here are some guys I would love to see in a Falcon uniform with those picks:
#1 Rennie Curran- LB/Georgia- What he lacks in size he makes up for in heart and effort. He could be the second coming of Jessie Tuggle. He's worth a 4th or 5th round pick if he's still around. At worst he will be a stud on Special Teams.
#2 Matt Tennant- C/Boston College- He's the #2 center in the draft and has familiarity with Matt Ryan. We need a replacement for Todd McClure soon and he could be the guy.
#3 Brandon Lang- DE/Troy- He's probably a bit of a project but he has a lot of the characteristics you look for in a good pass rusher.
#4 Joe McKnight- RB/USC- I'm surprised to see him so low in drafts. I love CJ/Turner but McKnight/Turner would be nice as well.
#5 Riley Cooper- WR/Florida- Has good size and the knack for making the big play. Could be a solid #3 or #4 receiver.
I'm looking forward to the draft. I will update periodically during the draft with my reaction to each of the Falcons picks. I'm intrigued to see the reactions of my Armchair Linebacker brethren about their teams drafts as well, and we might need to get the Raiders blogger some help or possible feed him incorrect information to save his sanity. If you enjoy random music/mma/Atlanta sports talk then follow me on twitter @ugakev.
Looks like their are some Falcons training MMA this off-season. As an Atlanta Falcon fan and an avid MMA fan this immediately interested me. Randy Couture, Jay Glazer and Frank Trigg have a company called MMAthletics and they help professional athletes incorporate MMA training in with their regularly training. Up until now they have been working with individual athletes but now apparently they are working with the Falcons franchise. Alex Marvez of Foxsports.com has a great article up about it. Alex Marvez interviewed Falcons GM Thomas Dimetroff and TD said they are doing this in part for conditioning and in part for help with their leverage, hand quickness, and helping them battle in the trenches and also while taking on blocks. The only Falcon interviewed in Marvez's article was starting MLB Curtis Lofton (other than TD and Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith). Another positive listed besidees the physical implications is the bond being built among the guys training. Curtis Lofton talked about forming a bond with the guys he's training with and it helping them build trust with one another. Glazer also had a great quote about trying to make the guys more violent and breaking down their opponents and having their opponents not want to face them anymore by the end of the game. This could lead to some fantastic things. Reggie Bush is running up the middle and Curtis Lofton pulls guard pops off his helmet and chokes him out in a guillotine. John Abraham blitzes Drew Brees and rolls him up into a knee bar. Steve Smith goes for a catch and Thomas DeCoud hits him with a judo throw. I could get used to this. Harvey Dahl is one nasty guy, I can't imagine what he will be like after training MMA. But seriously, I'm interested to see how this impacts the team and if it will be something that they roll out to the entire team at some point.
THE SCHEDULE
So the schedule came out and I'm not a huge schedule guy but it's fun to look at. Last year the NFL bent the Falcons over and tried to commit Ben Roethlispenis on them by having them lead the league with games against teams coming off byes. This year we start with Pittsburgh, which will be a tough game especially in Pitt but it will be without their starting hedonist. The Falcons bye is right in the middle of the season this year and we end with 2 home games (although one is against the World Champion Saints) so that's good news. I'm not going to break the schedule down (that will be a post later on after the draft chatter and before the season starts) but here is what the schedule looks like:
Week 1: Sunday, Sep. 12, at Pittsburgh, 1:00 PM
Week 2: Sunday, Sep. 19, Arizona, 1:00 PM
Week 3: Sunday, Sep. 26, at New Orleans, 1:00 PM
Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 3, San Francisco, 1:00 PM
Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 10, at Cleveland, 1:00 PM
Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 17, at Philadelphia, 1:00 PM
Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 24, Cincinnati, 1:00 PM
Week 8: BYE
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 7, Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM
Week 10: Thursday, Nov. 11, Baltimore, 8:20 PM
Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 21, at St. Louis, 4:05 PM
Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 28, Green Bay, 1:00 PM
Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 5, at Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM
Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 12, at Carolina, 1:00 PM
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 19, at Seattle, 4:05 PM
Week 16: Monday, Dec. 27, New Orleans, 8:30 PM
Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 2, Carolina, 1:00 PM
DRAFT THOUGHTS
I've already posted a little about this in a past blog but with the draft coming up later this week I thought I would revisit my thoughts going into the draft. We have the #19 pick in the draft and this feels like a good place to be with the talent that should be available. I think TD might try and move down and pick up extra picks but if he stays here then these are the Top 3 guys I want picked with the #19 pick:
#1 C.J. Spiller- RB/Clemson- he's going to be gone by this time but if for some reason he slips a CJ/Turner backfield would be too good to pass up.
#2 Brandon Graham- DE/Michigan- this is the guy most mock drafts have us picking and he fills our #1 need.
#3 Sean Witherspoon- LB/Missouri- he brings energy and confidence. Two things our defense needs. We also need line backers.
Looking deeper into the draft the Falcons do not have a 2nd round pick but do have two 3rds (#83, #98) and a 4th (#117). Here are some guys I would love to see in a Falcon uniform with those picks:
#1 Rennie Curran- LB/Georgia- What he lacks in size he makes up for in heart and effort. He could be the second coming of Jessie Tuggle. He's worth a 4th or 5th round pick if he's still around. At worst he will be a stud on Special Teams.
#2 Matt Tennant- C/Boston College- He's the #2 center in the draft and has familiarity with Matt Ryan. We need a replacement for Todd McClure soon and he could be the guy.
#3 Brandon Lang- DE/Troy- He's probably a bit of a project but he has a lot of the characteristics you look for in a good pass rusher.
#4 Joe McKnight- RB/USC- I'm surprised to see him so low in drafts. I love CJ/Turner but McKnight/Turner would be nice as well.
#5 Riley Cooper- WR/Florida- Has good size and the knack for making the big play. Could be a solid #3 or #4 receiver.
I'm looking forward to the draft. I will update periodically during the draft with my reaction to each of the Falcons picks. I'm intrigued to see the reactions of my Armchair Linebacker brethren about their teams drafts as well, and we might need to get the Raiders blogger some help or possible feed him incorrect information to save his sanity. If you enjoy random music/mma/Atlanta sports talk then follow me on twitter @ugakev.
1 comment:
Kevin, allow me to belatedly welcome you aboard. As for my sanity, don't sweat it because it's looooooong gone. Rooting for a team that continually finds new ways to redefine losing has that affect on people.
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