The

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

season was the franchise’s 36th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). The Falcons obtained the first pick overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. With the pick, the Falcons drafted Virginia Tech quarterback

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

. This was Jamal Anderson’s final season as he re-aggravated his surgically repaired knee in Week 3, and this time, it ended his career. The Falcons improved on their 9–23 record from the previous two seasons, but still failed to qualify for the postseason for the third consecutive campaign after a 6-4 start. This was the final season under the Falcons' founding ownership, the Rankin M. Smith Sr. family, as the franchise was sold to

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

co-founder

Arthur Blank Arthur M. Blank (born September 27, 1942) is an American businessman and a co-founder of the home improvement retailer The Home Depot. He also currently owns two professional sports teams based in Atlanta, Georgia - the Atlanta Falcons of the ...

in March 2002.

Offseason

Vick was selected in the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

as the first overall pick and first African American quarterback taken number 1 in the NFL Draft. The San Diego Chargers had the number one selection spot in the draft that year but traded the rights to the first overall choice to the Atlanta Falcons a day before the draft, for which they received the Falcons’ first round pick (5th overall) and third round pick in 2001 (used to draft CB

Tay Cody Coronta "Tay" Cody (born October 6, 1977) is a former American college and professional football who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) for six seasons. He played college football for ...

), a second round pick in 2002 (used to draft WR

Reche Caldwell Donald Reche Caldwell Jr. ( or ; March 28, 1979 – June 6, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons in the 2000s with the San Diego Chargers, New Eng ...

) and WR/ KR

Tim Dwight Timothy John Dwight Jr. (born July 13, 1975) is a former professional American football player who was a wide receiver and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University ...

. With the Chargers’ downgraded spot (the 5th overall), they selected

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college career with the TCU Horned Frogs, the San Diego Chargers se ...

, who went on to become league MVP in 2006. Although Vick has never become league MVP, he finished second in voting in 2004. In this way, Tomlinson and Vick are linked as having been “traded” for each other, although the transaction was actually the result of traded draft picks and contract negotiations.

NFL Draft

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

This was the Falcons’ 32nd and final season as a member of the NFC West Division. If one counts its predecessor, the Coastal Division of the NFL’s Western Conference prior to the 1970 merger, it was the franchise’s 35th season in this division. The Falcons moved to the new

NFC South The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when ...

as part of the NFL’s realignment plan for the following season.

Schedule

Standings

References

External links

2001 Atlanta Falcons
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

Atlanta Falcons seasons

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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