The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Falcons play their home games at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, but construction is likely to begin in 2014 on a new stadium with play beginning in the 2017 season.

The Atlanta Falcons Football Team is owned by business man Arthur Blank, and eight limited partners.

The Atlanta Falcons Adviser Board is made up of eleven members: Arthur M. Blank, Henry L. “ Hank ” Aaron, Steve Bartkowski, Glenda Hatchett, David E. Homrich, Felker W. Ward, Jr., Carl Ware, Bill Bolling, Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Ingrid Saunders Jones and Andrew Young ( Ambassador ).

As of 2011 the Atlanta Falcons Executive Committee consisted of ten people: Arthur Blank, Owner and Chairman ; Rich McKay, President & CEO ; Thomas Dimitroff, General Manager ; Kim Shreckengost, Executive Vice President / Chief of Staff for AMB Group, LLC ; Greg Beadles, Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer ; Jim Smith, Chief Marketing Officer ; Danny Branch, Vice President of Information Technology ; Dave Cohen, Vice President of Sales and Service ; Reggie Roberts, Vice President of Football Communications and Tim Zulawski, VP of Sponsorship Sales and Service.

The Atlanta Falcons franchise began on June 30, 1965 when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle granted ownership to 41 year-old Rankin Smith Sr .. Smith an Executive Vice President of Life Insurance Company of Georgia at the time, paid $ 8. 5 million the highest price in NFL history at the time 1965 for an NFL franchise.

Former commissioner Pete Rozelle and Smith made the deal in about five minutes and the Atlanta Falcons brought the largest and most popular sport to the city of Atlanta.

The Atlanta Falcons Football Club received its nickname on August 29, 1965.

The Falcons had their first Monday Night Football game in Atlanta during the 1970 season.

In 1992, the Atlanta Falcons opened a new chapter in their history moving into the newly constructed Georgia Dome.

“ The new Atlanta Falcons logo is fresh, strong and dynamic, and yet appreciates the tradition and history of this franchise ,” said Falcons owner and CEO Arthur Blank.

The Atlanta Falcons hold the record among all major American sports leagues for the longest streak of seasons without consecutive winning seasons, a streak that lasted from 1966 – 2008.

The first half was a defensive struggle, with the first points coming off of a safety by the Falcons, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Atlanta Falcons uniform: 1971 – 1977

Atlanta Falcons uniform: 1997 – 2002

The Atlanta Falcons wore 1966 throwback jerseys for 2 home games in 2009 – against the Carolina Panthers on September 20 and against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 29.

Urlacher, whose jersey was among the league's best-selling in 2002, was featured on Nike commercials with former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

The two conference title games led to a hot bidding war between the clubs for players ; the Niners signed cornerback Deion Sanders from the Atlanta Falcons and also signed linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. from the Cowboys ; they defeated the Cowboys 21-14 in the 1994 regular season and then hosted the Cowboys in that year's Conference title game, with the Cowboys now coached by Barry Switzer ; the 49ers raced to a 21-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the first quarter and won 38-28 en route to Super Bowl XXIX.

* 1982 – Michael Turner ( American football ), NFL running back for the Atlanta Falcons

Supporters of Jacksonville's bid included NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, President Neil Austrian, Vice President Roger Goodell, Bud Adams of the Houston Oilers, Rankin Smith of the Atlanta Falcons and Ken Hofmann of the Seattle Seahawks.

In the team's final game of the regular season against the Atlanta Falcons, needing a win to earn a playoff berth, the Jaguars caught a bit of luck when Morten Andersen missed a 30 yard field goal with less than a minute remaining that would have given the Falcons the lead.

The rivalry with Atlanta began in the first season of the franchise when both teams were members of the NFC West.

As the Giants began to fade, the Atlanta Braves started making a run at the Rockies that was starting to look similar to Colorado's 2007 run.

The planned intercontinental tour in support of Snakes & Arrows began on June 13, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia, coming to a close on October 29, 2007 at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.

Purchase of an Atlanta UHF station in 1970 began the Turner Broadcasting System.

This student group, known as the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights ( COAHR ), initiated the Atlanta Student Movement and began to lead in Atlanta with sit-ins starting on March 15, 1960.

Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League ( NHL ) on June 25, 1997, and became the league's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999 – 2000 NHL season.

He was first taken to the jail in Gainesville, but when a potential lynch mob began gathering in Gainesville, Knox was moved to a jail in Atlanta.

The A & F began laying of track from Atlanta to Fort Valley in 1880.

While Hood traveled through Alabama and into Tennessee, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman began his March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah, which focused Beauregard's attention back to Georgia.

Airline employees from Atlanta began to buy large tracks of farmland.

Debate over incorporation began in the 1970s when the city of Atlanta attempted to use a state law to force annexation of Sandy Springs.

It began primarily as summer retreat for wealthy residents of Atlanta and Savannah.

Hogansville began because there was a crossroads on Hogan's land of two important routes, the north-south railroad between Atlanta and West Point, and the east-west road to Augusta, now Highway 100.

Dallas began to decline in importance when the town commissioners refused to appropriate money for construction of bridges over several creeks for the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway in the 1872.

In the late 19th century, the Brients began building shops and gristmills approximately northeast of their milltown at a railroad stop called Tellico Junction, where the Atlanta, Knoxville & Northern Railroad ( which roughly followed modern U. S. 411 ) intersected the Tellico Railroad ( which connected Athens and Tellico Plains ).

After the campaign, just before General Sherman began his operations against Atlanta, Sherman said of the Red River campaign that it was " One damn blunder from beginning to end.

After signing a contract with Samvinn Travel, Air Atlanta Icelandic began operating domestic charter flights as well.

The first incarnation of the band ," Mr. Crowe's Garden "; named after Leonard Leslie Brookes children's book Johnny Crow's Garden, began in 1984 in Atlanta.

In 1870, it began holding classes at the present site of Atlanta City Hall.

Brokaw's television career began at KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa, followed by stints at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska and WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.

They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

He began his career as an investigator for the Retail Credit Company of Atlanta.