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In 1985 Smith founded the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation. [12] It provides grants to non-profit organizations across Georgia, focusing on programs which benefit children. Following his death, three of Smith's children (Rankin Smith Jr., Dorothy Smith Knox, and Taylor Smith) donated $3.5 million to the University of Georgia Athletic ...
The Atlanta Falcons franchise began when it was approved to begin play in 1966 by a unanimous vote of the NFL club owners on June 21, 1965. [1] NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle granted ownership nine days later on June 30 to Rankin M. Smith Sr., the executive vice president of Life Insurance Company of Georgia. [2]
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons were founded on June 30, 1965, and joined the NFL in 1966 [6] as an expansion team, after the NFL offered then-owner Rankin ...
Professional football comes to Atlanta (1962) Professional football first came to Atlanta in 1962, when the American Football League (AFL) staged two preseason contests, with one
The Atlanta Falcons were founded by Rankin M. Smith Sr. and started playing in the NFL in the 1966 season. [14] In their initial years, the Falcons struggled, achieving only two winning seasons and failing to qualify for the playoffs. [15]
The 1966 NFL expansion draft was a National Football League (NFL) draft in which a new expansion team, named the Atlanta Falcons, selected its first players.On June 30, 1965, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle awarded the first NFL franchise in the Deep South to the city of Atlanta and granted ownership to Rankin Smith Sr. [1]
The Falcons have repeatedly gone down to the wire, and Atlanta has shown it can dig deep enough to pull out unlikely wins. Opinion: Atlanta Falcons have found their identity in nerve-wracking finishes
In June 1965, the AFL awarded its first expansion team to Cox Broadcasting of Atlanta. [36] [37] The NFL quickly counteroffered insurance executive Rankin Smith a franchise, which he accepted; [38] the Atlanta Falcons began play as an NFL franchise for the 1966 season.