Bucs/NFL

Falcons playing spoiler for nation

Atlanta's players are aware that nearly everyone will pull for the Saints and their hurricane-ravaged city tonight.

By TIMES WIRES
Published September 25, 2006

The Falcons are used to getting booed in the Big Easy. But they've never had a whole nation pulling against them.

The Falcons are clearly cast in the bad-guy role for tonight's emotion-packed reopening of the Superdome, the scene of horrific suffering during Hurricane Katrina.

"Everybody knows what happened down there," Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall said Friday. "Everyone is going to be rooting for those guys. We're rooting for those guys. We want to make sure everything is in order down there, make sure everything is headed in the right direction."

But, Hall quickly added, "Every game we play, we go out there to win. My heart goes out to those guys, but we're going down there to win a game. That's the only thing on our minds."

Indeed, the Falcons find themselves in a bit of an uncomfortable position.

In the NFL's 16-game season, every game is played with a huge sense of urgency and one loss can transform a season. The Falcons and Saints are both 2-0, so tonight's winner claims the early upper hand in the highly competitive NFC South.

"We've got to see through all that other stuff and focus on the Saints," Falcons safety Lawyer Milloy said late last week, sitting at his locker after practice. "Obviously, it's a very sensitive situation. I don't think any of the guys in here are trying to downplay what happened down there a year ago. It was a national disaster."

After spending last season away from New Orleans, the Saints return to their home stadium - a shelter for the city's flooded-out residents in Katrina's aftermath - and provide a much-needed diversion for residents. Their beloved Saints have become a rallying point, their return to a sold-out Superdome showing that the Big Easy may be down, but it's not out.

Just don't expect Atlanta to play along.

[Last modified September 25, 2006, 00:03:41]