March In Georgia

The Heading has nothing to do with Sherman’s march to the sea in 1864, the South was tired and he got Lucky.
It is not about the 1980 Bulldogs march to the Championship, but is in line with Football.
So logically the march I’m talking about in Georgia is not about the Braves 1995 season capturing the World Series title or the grand parade in the 1996 Olympics.
I’m talking the month of March, Earth year 2013 as a point to mark the calander for Falcon fans as possibly the pivotal point in time where the Falcons got over the hump Asante Samuel talked about on an ESPN spot. Weird since preseason has three months yet to come.
March 2013 had some highlights that the Atlanta Falcons and faithful rejoiced at individually when
announced but as a whole have passed with the sands of time and the thrill of building hope in a decent draft. Fans and writers often look at points in the season which turn a teams page in one direction or another
but seldom does an off season Month get credit in the books. I’ll save this article until the Super Bowl.
March 1, 2013 began with the Brass announcing the release of John Abraham, Michael Turner and
Dunta Robinson in an effort to free up money and get a little faster and younger. The release of three
Veteran starters, and popular ones at that, would make a month of moves for some teams in itself.
A surprise to some, and to some maybe not, but the Month of March started definitely with big news.
On March 5th Antone Smith was resigned. Not news at all really, unless Jason Snelling is released in the next two months for cap space to make a splashier move and Antone is asked to cover Jason’s 260 all purpose yards of 2012. The brass must see something other than a very good special teams player.
When March 12th came it was a March of happiness to Falcon nation with the announcement of Tony
Gonzalez returning another year. There had been many articles of this being a big piece for the Birds as they prepared for the draft and it was received as if we had won a game. The hump Samuel spoke of got smaller that day and Tony’s tutoring of Coffman and Toilolo has future analysis to be determined.
The day was also the day we signed Sam Baker for the rest of his career. A team is only as good as an offensive line in protection and opening running lanes. Baker has not always been a fan favorite, is not a pro bowl candidate but is an anchor on our line and one of two veterans left. If he repeats his last season performance the next couple of years the signing is a Super deal and looking back makes a Super day.
March 15th and the Month of March is half over but the news of Steven Jackson being brought in to
replace Turner sets off more fireworks in Georgia and is considered by nearly every football fan across
the country as an upgrade and nice addition to an already powerful offense.
March 26 and it is announced that Todd McClure is retiring. It was time, and Todd deserves a place in the ring of Falcon Honor. The offensive line gets younger, hopefully quicker and more athletic. There may be mistakes with youth, but the future is being established to build a cohesive line for years to come.
On March 27th, the Falcons landed Osi Umenyiora to hopefully produce to Abrahams level , a new blood add and veteran along a young defensive line. The Falcons need a pass rush, Osi is going to be the stable presence and if the youth around him step up then success of improvement in the defense as a whole will take a huge chunk off the aforementioned ‘hump’. This month of moves had a effect on the nice draft Atlanta had to shore up the secondary, add depth and get younger for the future by narrowing the holes to fill that were needing attention. Football is a war, a sixteen game battle that takes a lot of pieces to succeed.
Atlanta is ready to March into war in 2013., because of the pieces we obtained in March.
Is it coincidence that the Month known as March is named after the roman god of war ?