Dirty Bird Daily: Wife of Andy Levitre Awarded NFC Championship Game Ball

The Atlanta Falcons awarded the NFC Championship game ball the wife of guard Andy Levitre on Monday. What makes Katie Levitre the real MVP of the playoffs?

There were many Atlanta Falcons who were deserving of the game ball following Sunday’s win in the NFC Championship Game. Rather than recognize one of his players, Dan Quinn opted to show appreciation to an unsung hero. He presented Sunday’s game ball to Katie Levitre, wife of Falcons’ left guard Andy Levitre.

Katie Levitre made some headlines last week when she sat through Atlanta’s win over Seattle last week while in labor.

“We gave Andy Levitre’s wife a game ball because it was a week late, and we put ‘ultimate toughness’ on it,” Quinn told the media on Monday. “She had gone into labor during the game, but waited it out. So we thought that was definitely worth the game ball. … She doesn’t know that yet, so if she’s watching, Andy will bring that today.”

Andy Levitre was unaware his wife was in labor until after the game ended. “I went and showered up, came outside, we went home for like an hour, went to the hospital and then she gave birth,” he told Fox 5 Atlanta.

Lily Gene Levitre was born at 12:07 a.m. on January 15th. Proud father Andy recently took to Twitter with a good omen in advance of the Super Bowl:

It’s not often an offensive lineman receives positive media attention. Rarely do we see the spotlight cast over player’s families; Miko Grimes excluded.

More from Blogging Dirty

• Atlanta Falcons are the perfect fit for Leonard Floyd
• 3 Largest Atlanta Falcons 2023 dead cap hits
• Atlanta Falcons trade up for a quarterback in this full mock draft
• Atlanta Falcons: 3 trade packages to land first-overall pick
• 3 Reasons the Atlanta Falcons shouldn’t fear Derek Carr and the Saints

The Atlanta Falcons offense has been nothing short of stellar this season, a “buzz-saw” that wouldn’t be possible without the protection up front. Levitre is one of five Falcons lineman who have thrived within Kyle Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme. It was protection that enabled Matt Ryan to throw for 4,944 yards and 38 touchdowns in 2016. It was also the holes created by Levtire and crew that enabled a cumulative 1,928 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.