The Atlanta Falcons have never been a particularly stable organization that avoids making a fool of themselves, but even 28-3 wasn't bad enough to drag this franchise back to the pits they found themselves in for the first decade of their existence as a neophyte franchise.
The Falcons were run with an iron fist when Norm Van Brocklin came to town, and the 1-2 punch of his inability to put together a winning product on the field and struggles in the NFL draft contributed to Atlanta's futility in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Things took a turn for the strange in the 1971 NFL Draft. Apparently realizing he was no good at drafting football players, Van Brocklin turned the Draft into a mockery when he tried to use a genuine NFL pick on an actor who was in his 60s at the time.
Remembering the time the Atlanta Falcons tried to draft a movie star
Van Brockin became a coach with the expansion Minnesota Vikings in 1961 after retiring and he ended up coaching in the NFL for 13 seasons. Seven of those 13 seasons were with Atlanta. Van Brocklin survived based on name recognition, as he went 66-100-7 and had one year with more than eight wins.
Van Brocklin was able to muscle his way into the front office, serving as GM from 1970 t o1974 in addition to being the head coach. Van Brocklin may have been an MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback, but his executive career left a ton to be desired. Look no further than how he handled the 1971 NFL Draft.
The Draft may feel arduous to those who aren't passionate about scouting, but keep in mind it used to be twice as long. The '71 Draft went 17 rounds and encompassed 442 picks.
In the Draft, which was very underwhelming for the Falcons outside of adding longtime safety Ray Brown, Van Brocklin was clearly bored as the 17th round approached. Rather than leaning on his scouting department, Van Brocklin stood up and shouted," Do we want the roughest, toughest s.o.b. in the draft?!"
He then tried to draft John Wayne. Yes, that John Wayne. The 64-year-old movie star.
Van Brocklin even said that Wayne was from "Fort Apache State," which is a reference to the 1948 film of the same name. Clearly seeing that this was a ridiculous stint, commissioner Pete Rozelle didn't allow the pick to be made. Atlanta ended up taking running back Willie Martin, who ended up playing as many games for the Falcons as John Wayne.
Falcons fans must remain eternally thankful to Jerry Granville and his "Grits Blitz" defense, as that was the first time the Falcons had a true identity outside of doing silly, nonsensical things like this and putting together aggressively mediocre records.