Atlanta: A pro football headquarters or a college football mecca?

I know it’s been awhile since I posted my last blog, but now that’s it’s the summertime and I don’t have as much work to do as I did during the high school sports season, I will try to post more blogs that are focused on football.

A couple of weeks ago I read a blog that college football expert Tony Barnhart wrote about Atlanta being a college football city or a pro football city. He asked which event would you rather see – The Atlanta Falcons taking on the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC title game or No. 1 Alabama taking on No. 2 Florida for the SEC Championship.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Most fans would chose to see the Falcons in the NFC Championship because it’s the hometown team one win away from the Super Bowl. But if Georgia was No. 1 or No. 2 in the polls and were playing the SEC title game, then it would be a different story.

Here’s what I would choose. I love Georgia and I would like for them to win a national championship someday. But I can’t go against the Falcons because I have more of a connection with them than with UGA. But that doesn’t mean that it would be a hard decision.

Here’s my point. Most fans would choose the SEC title game because Barnhart got it right when he said that Atlanta is a college football town. Always has been and probably always will be. But what I would ask him is can’t Atlanta be both a college and pro football town? Why should we have to choose one or the other? Why can’t we appreciate both levels of football the same?

Look, I’ll be honest and say I’m more of a pro football fan than college (only by a slim margin). But I love going to college football games in Athens or on the Flats. In fact, I went the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff game, the SEC Championship and the Chick-fil-A Bowl last year and I had a blast. I especially love watching games on Saturday from noon to 1 a.m. But one thing that you have to understand about me is I love the game of football – high school, college or pro.

Atlanta is a melting pot when it comes to college football fans because there are quite a few fans that root for of alums of schools such as Alabama, Tennessee, Clemson, Florida, Florida State and Auburn. But why not support the Falcons the way that you support your college team. Sure, the Falcons have not won a Super Bowl and they have been inconsistent when it comes to winning seasons. But they are a team on the rise and I think they will reach a Super Bowl in the next two years. You can bank on it.

That’s all I have to say about that topic. I will have more topics concerning football in the next few weeks. I will also have a high school, college and pro football preview in the next month and rank some of the top players at each level.