The family reunion between A.J. and Avieon Terrell with the Atlanta Falcons has emerged into one of the coolest storylines of the 2026 NFL Draft. The two brothers have a six-year age gap, so they have never really had a chance to play together, but will now get to share the secondary with the Falcons.
Atlanta selected the 21-year-old with the 48th pick in the NFL Draft, which helped them land a likely first-round talent in the middle of Day 2. That in itself is a big accomplishment given the quality of the player, but A.J. revealed he knew the pick was coming because Kevin Stefanski gave him a warning.
For Avieon, it's an incredibly sweet experience, but for his big brother, it's even sweeter. While addressing the media last night, he revealed Stefanski told him his brother would be the pick in the few picks before, but he had to keep his brother in the dark until the call from the war room came in.
"I had to wait three picks before I could show some type of love to him," Terrell said. ... "I feel like I'm living the draft again."
The Falcons forced A.J. Terrell to keep the Avieon Terrell pick a secret until he got the call
That means he was told around Pick 45, which likely means the front office knew he wouldn't be selected in the next few picks. Giving Terrell an advance notice is so cool, but I'm sure he was sweating bullets at the prospect of keeping this from his brother or accidentally spilling the beans.
And it sounds like Avieon picked up on it after Stefanski called A.J., as he revealed he knew how things would end up in that moment. So even if his brother tried to hide it, the Clemson product knows him well enough that that wouldn't fly.
It became pretty clear pretty quickly that Terrell would be the pick when the Falcons were on the clock at 48 and he was still available, but this was not only done for the family reunion. Not only does he play like his brother, his versatility makes him the perfect scheme fit for Jeff Ulbrich's defense.
It's cool enough to get to see the brothers share the field together, but knowing they got to share the draft process with one another makes a captivating storyline even more exciting.
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