Many additional Falcons are deserving of Hall of Fame induction. Though the Falcons lack the storied past of other multi-championship teams, they have been home to some of the sport’s all-time greats. Several players have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame and have other inductees arguing they should be established. Eight Atlanta Falcons players have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a ninth member is slated to join them soon. Check out the bronze busts of history’s best red and black players.
All the Atlanta Falcons who have made it into the Hall of Fame in Canton are listed below:
- Tommy McDonald: played only one year with the team (1967)
- Eric Dickerson: Former star running back was dealt to the Green Bay Packers after a single dismal 1993 season.
- Deion Sanders: used to play for the Dirty Birds at the beginning of his career (1989-1993)
- Chris Doleman: The former defensive end only spent two years (1994-1995) in Atlanta, but he used that time wisely.
- Claude Humphrey: longest tenure of any future Hall of Famer was with the Falcons (1968-1978)
- Brett Farve: After only appearing in four games for Atlanta in 1991, it’s hard to call this gunslinger a former Falcons roster member.
- Morten Anderson: worked for Atlanta for two separate periods, the first from 1995 to 2000 and the second from 2006 to 2007.
- Toney Gonzalez: The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted Gonzalez in 2019, his first year of eligibility.
Coaches:
- Norm Van Brocklin: From 1969 through 1974, he was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, where his teams had a combined record of 36-45-3. Overall, his two clubs posted a 65-96-7 record in twelve seasons as a head coach. Brocklin was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after his playing career in 1971. He coached Claude Humphrey to the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 1968 while serving as interim head coach for the Atlanta Falcons.
- Emmitt Thomas: Induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a huge honor for Emmitt Thomas, an assistant head coach for the Atlanta Falcons. Thomas, an experienced coach of 28 years who is beginning his sixth season with the Falcons, was recently moved to Assistant Head Coach. Thomas was Atlanta’s Defensive Backs Coach in 2006–07 before being promoted to Interim Head Coach for the season’s final three games.
- Bryant Young: Young served as the defensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons for a combined total of two seasons (2017-2018) with the Atlanta Falcons. With a record of 17-15-0, while coaching the defensive line for the team, Young is currently ranked as the third-most successful defensive line coach in the history of the Atlanta Falcons. The only time the team qualified for the playoffs was in 2017, and they finished with a record of 1-1 under Coach Young in games played during the playoffs.
Only four Atlanta Falcons players (Sanders, Humphrey, Andersen, and Gonzalez) have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Andersen played his first 13 seasons in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, where he also established himself as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer before moving on to Atlanta for the final eight years of his career.
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