Atlanta Falcons

The date June 30, 1965, always will be remembered as both a termination and a commencement in the history of Atlanta sports. For on that day the end came to the many and disparate struggles to place a professional football team in the Southeast's key metropolis. At the same time the Atlanta Falcons were born and began a storied tenure in the NFL(National Football League). All that had gone before—the successes (an $18 million stadium to play in) and the near-misses (aborted attempts to place other franchises in the city)— was set aside for the immediate business of fielding a team in little over a year's time. Prime mover in this task was Rankin Smith, a young insurance executive who had controlling ownership of the Falcons.