A sad handful of Atlanta Falcons fans hosted a rain-soaked welcome party after their team blew the biggest lead in Super Bowl history. Like, a grand total of seven of them.
Falcons fans hosted a soggy, sad-sack homecoming for their hometown team on Monday after choking away Super Bowl 51 to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots a day earlier.
The @AtlantaFalcons had a small crowd of people to greet them as they arrived back in Flowery Branch. pic.twitter.com/FNbT0wrPoM
— Jason Durden (@JasonDurden) February 6, 2017
Television helicopters followed the six team buses from the airport to their XX facility, where reporters and a loose group of fans were waiting to show their support.
Only a couple of homemade signs were left decorating the road to the Falcons’ practice facility. And patiently waiting at the front gates were Jeff and Tina Brown — fans since the 1960s — and longtime season ticket holders.
After Sunday night’s loss, being there on Monday only made sense.
“Tina just said, ‘I would like to go out there,'” Jeff said. “I said okay.”
Listen—sometimes maybe you just shouldn’t say “OK.” One one hand, you have to give them credit for showing up despite the weather and the fact that their hearts were surgically removed from their bodies by Tom Brady just hours earlier. That’s dedication few in Atlanta were willing to show.
On the other hand, it’s not exactly an emotional outpouring of support from die-hards. When the Buffalo Bills lost Super Bowl 25 because Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired, nearly 30,000 people showed up in downtown Buffalo for a rally of support. Fans chanted Norwood’s name until he came to the podium and said he “never felt more loved.” I’m not sure Matt Ryan is feeling the same love from the Falcons faithful right now.
On the other other hand, the Bills then went on to lose three more Super Bowls. Maybe there’s something to be said for cutting your losses and taking up another hobby for a few years after your entire sporting existence is shattered by the hand of fate.
