I didn’t get into football until recently, and I was 5 when Dan Reeves retired/was fired/asked to be let go. There’s limited written history about any sport really, and it makes me curious: what exactly happened there? I understand that this team went to SB XXXIII off the back of Jamal Anderson, and that he suffered serious injuries in the years after, hobbling the team’s run game on a run first offense. But still, things fell off a cliff after the SB. If it’s all on the run game, how come the combined skill of Vick, Dunn, and Duckett could only barely snag the 6th seed in 2002? What was the vibe like in that time, as well as any other reasons for the decline, or perhaps overlooked reasons for the success of the 1998 season? Was Reeves a good coach without a decent team, or was he just not good anymore?
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DAN REEVES THE GM: PART II
Despite Dan Reeves the GM’s bungling of the Jason Sehorn/1997 first-round draft pick, he did have some high points in that 1997 off-season. At the end of the 1996 season, then-coach June Jones suspended DE Chuck Smith for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Regardless of the fact that that team stunk (stinked? stank?), Smith was suspended for the final game of the 1996 season as well as the first 3 games of the 1997 season. June Jones was fired at the end of the 1996, and when Reeves was brough on board to take over, one of his actions was to reinstate Chuck Smith. (Smith would go on to lead the Falcons with 12 sacks in 1997.)
In addition to that, arguably Reeves’ most significant move was acquiring QB Chris Chandler from the Houston Oilers in exchange for 4th and 6th round picks in the 1997 off-season. He also signed unestricted free agent CB Ray Buchanan that off-season.
Dan Reeves the coach managed to have a respectable first year as head coach of the Falcons. However, it didn’t start out that way. The Falcons stumbled out of the gate, beginning the season 1-7. They turned things around, though, and went 6-2 in their final eight games. Despite missing the playoffs at 7-9, the finish to the season pumped teams and fans alike with a lot for the 1998 season.
During that 1998 off-season, however, a seemingly not-too-disruptive of a roster move set in motion a chain of events that would send ripples through the franchise for several years. No, not the signing of UFA FS Eugene Robinson. That was actually a very good acquisition. Despite his transgressions during the Super Bowl later that year, I still contend we would not had even made it to the Super Bowl without him commanding the secondary in 1998.
No. I’m talking about a move that would impact the Falcons’ passing game, leaving them without a suitable WR2 until 2005, 2006.
I’m talking about Bert Emanuel.
Who?
Bert Emanuel. Wide receiver.
The Falcons drafted Emanuel in the 2nd round in 1994. Between 1995 and 1997, he averaged 71 catches, 983 yards, and 6 TDs a season. Paired with WR Terance Mathis, who the Falcons acquired in 1994, Emanuel was slowly establishing himself as one of the better WRs in the league.
In 1998, Emanuel was a restricted free agent and, as it turns out, he was a hot commodity. and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Emanuel an offer. At the time, the contract represented the second-highest annual average ever paid to a wide receiver. It would’ve also made Emanuel the highest-paid player in franchise level. The Falcons either couldn’t or didnt’t want to match (maybe both), and so Emanuel signed with the Buccaneers. Because of the tag level, the Falcons weren’t entitled to an draft pick compensation.
That left a huge hole at the WR spot opposite Terance Mathis. To fill this hole, GM Dan Reeves traded a 1999 2nd round pick to the San Diego Chargers for WR Tony Martin. Martin was a speedy receiver. A few years older than Emanuel, but he also had a couple of years left on his contract, and he would be a cheaper, faster alternative to Emanuel.
Martin filled in adequately for Emanuel in 1998, totaling 66 catches, 1100 yards, and 6 TDs. Things were looking real good. The Falcons seemed to be set at WR for the foreseeable future.
Nine days after the loss in Super Bowl XXXIII - and the arrest of teammate Eugene Robinson for solicitation - Tony Martin was arrested on federal money laundering charges. Evidence at the time strongly suggested that Martin would be convicted. Besides, when the feds get a line on you, they’re almost always right.
Martin was due a roster bonus (and maybe another bonus or two), and GM Dan Reeves asked Martin to defer the bonuses. “If you’re going to end up in prison - which it reeeeeally looks like you will - I don’t want to be out of this roster bonus,” Reeves told Martin. (I’m paraphrasing.) Martin, as is his right, said, “F**k that, man. I need money for my attorneys.” (Again, I’m paraphrasing.) So, rather than pay out the bonuses, Reeves cut Tony Martin, leaving the Falcons with another void at WR.
(Two footnotes: First of all, Martin signed a contract with the Dolphins. The GM/Coach of the Dolphins, Jimmy Johnson, offered Martin the same deal. “Yeah, we’ll sign you, but if you go to prison, we’re cutting and you ain’t gettin s**t.” Martin took the deal.
Secondly, it didn’t matter, as Martin was miraculously acquitted of all charges.)
Up next… DAN REEVES THE GM: PART III