The DRAMA of the 1974 Atlanta Falcons | Norm Van Brocklin vs. Al Dodd

During the 1974 NFL season, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Al Dodd feuded with head coach Norm Van Brocklin. The feud got so ugly that Dodd wound up quitting the team midway through the season. This is the story behind the drama surrounding the 1974 Falcons, who were a dysfunctional mess of a team
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#nfl #falcons #nflthrowback #football #dorktown
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown
Atlanta Falcons Secret Base
Atlanta Falcons Jon Bois
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 1
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 2
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 3
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 4
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 5
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 6
Atlanta Falcons Dorktown Part 7
History of the Atlanta Falcons
History of the Falcons
Members of the 1974 Falcons:
John James
Pat Sullivan
Kim McQuilken
Nick Mike-Mayer
Bob Lee
Vince Kendrick
Rolland Lawrence
Haskel Stanback
Art Malone
Tom Hayes
Clarence Ellis
Molly McGee
Ray Easterling
Ray Brown
Rudy Holmes
Rick Byas
Al Dodd
Dave Hampton
Eddie Ray
Greg Brezina
Dick Palmer
Ken Mitchell
Paul Ryczek
Jim Miller
Dennis Havig
Jeff Van Note
Don Hansen
Lonnie Warwick
Tommy Nobis
Nick Bebout
Royce Smith
Len Gotshalk
Ted Fritsch
Larry Bailey
Mike Lewis
John Zook
Mike Tilleman
George Kunz
Rosie Manning
Chuck Walker
Louis Neal
Gerald Tinker
Ken Burrow
Larry Mialik
Tom Geredine
Jim Mitchell
Claude Humphrey
Henry Childs
Norm Van Brocklin (head coach)
Marion Campbell (head coach)
Rankin Smith (owner)

[@stevewarren4813]

Fran Tarkenton said that Van Brocklin had issues with EVERY human being.

[@JWex-jy7sk]

I feel like this channel is giving any “Secret Base” followers a preview of possible stories to expect for the upcoming Falcons documentary

[@Wannaknowmyname1]

My thoughts exactly

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

I said the same thing, like JG9 is whetting our appetites for the Dorktown documentary.....GOD I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

[@JWex-jy7sk]

@@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040 I think that’s coming this week. Might be dropping Part 1 this Thursday afternoon or Saturday Noon ET

[@JWex-jy7sk]

@@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040 Check that they just announced Part 1 is dropping tomorrow 🍿

[@Rountree1985]

Yeah, he planned this. Not that I blame him, it’s smart. Will probably gain subscribers from this.

[@mrmoose6619]

Books can tell you that yes, the Atlanta Falcons were inept back in the 60's and 70's, but the reasons are not always discussed. Here, we see the reasons. Thanks JG9 for continuing a series on the Falcons discussing stories that may have made headlines back then, but only really in the Atlanta media.

[@pcbullets8726]

Can you imagine the Van Brocklin stories we never heard? Salty old dog would be an understatement about this guy. Great channel by the way!

[@billymatthews7346]

Have been a Falcon fan, since the very beginning, And yes its the stories, about Dutch that the world, have never heard of, that would be very very amazing to read, have his signature on a program....still can't believe he would even sign a kids program, but its his signature, from 1969....thank you, BCM'

[@shellyvanbrocklin2266]

When I got sent out of the room, I knew the stories were going to get good.

[@SamBrickell]

"My wife is giving birth; Can I skip practice?" "no." "Allow me to rephrase: My wife is giving birth, I'm skipping practice."

[@nicoleknight9412]

Anyone who would put his job above his wife giving birth has his priorities pretty f'd up. Kudos to Dodd for not doing that.

[@rjflesher]

6:26 for the obligatory "if you did nothing but spike the ball into the ground on every single play"

[@chrisrifkin3670]

It's the 1970 Falcons It was inevitable

[@jeffpearljam1976]

Atlanta blowing a lead in the 4th quarter? That is a rarity.

[@overcomersmedia465]

🤣🤣🤣 Nothing new under the sun 🤣🤣🤣

[@robertsprouse9282]

Lol..@Jeffpearljam..nah, not THE FALCONS..

[@tomxconn]

If there is a way to blow a game, the falcons will find it. Or invent a way

[@jaybrown5920]

Ok even if Norm spiked his cigarette into the ground on every play he'd still have a higher coaching rating .

[@holidayumson2529]

Yes! Lol

[@RuffRyder_43]

"Norm Van Brocklin...God rest his soul the rotten SOB. One of the rottenest individuals on or off the field I’ve ever known in my life." - Monty Stickles

[@nasetvideos]

Wow! No words...talk about ice cold and harsh. Great job laying out this story.

[@jasonfullerton7763]

I was studying the night before my Circuits final exam in college with a fraternity brother when a call came in that his wife was in labor. He, of course, dropped everything and went to the hospital. To hell with the final. When I told the professor in the morning that my brother wouldn't be able to take the final, and why, the professor told me that a birth announcement would earn him a "B" on the final and he would not have to take it. NVB would have given him a 0. That baby might be the only reason his father passed that class, because we were both on our second attempt at it. I was thrilled to score high enough to get a D in that class.

[@levikatriel]

So, the adjective that describes Norm Van Brooklyn in two words is Bud Adams. He had a disastrous 1974 offseason that Official Jaguar Gator 9 made a video about.

[@classicrockbeagle]

It's actually Norm Van Brocklin. We'll see here if it's an issue of autocorrect. For all of Van Brockin's many, many failings as a coach, he was one badass quarterback

[@tygrkhat4087]

@@classicrockbeagle One of the great QBs in NFL history. But a prime example that great players don't always make great coaches.

[@CTubeMan]

Current Super Bowl Champion Coach Bruce Arians conversely told his assistants that if they missed a family event for work they would be fired (as I paraphrase). I don’t know if I said this in response to another video, but it seems like Norm Van Brocklin was the Woody Hayes of the NFL, just without the success.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

The problem with that is it becomes Van Brocklin in reverse, and as much as I agree with Arians, it's a bit "one size fits all" for my tastes.

[@DolFan316]

@@robertwilloughby8050 For an old dude Arians is trying WAY too hard to appeal to the "woke" crowd lately when he really should know better.

[@mayduck1]

Norm Van Brocklin between smoking on the sidelines and popping chewing gum at the same time looked like a mad man and his actions as coach like what he did with Malone and Dodd and Reporters showed he was a mad man.The 1973 Falcons are the classic example of his poor coaching as they went into December 8-3 with three straight home games to play and their first playoff berth in hand but they collapsed losing to Buffalo and St Louis who were double digit underdogs playing a backup QB and in this game a 32-10 Cardinals win both starting QB's on the Cards and Falcons had a passing rating of zero which is worse than spiking the ball on every play. The Falcons collapsed to 9-5 and lost out on the wild card playoff spot to Washington thanks to the great coaching of Van Brocklin.

[@moss8448]

only reason they were decent was the defense

[@ralphshelley9586]

Norm wanted to be on the field!

[@brianreid4567]

I know he was gonna say his favorite 😍 line when he started talking about the quarterback

[@markbrian7179]

Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976-77 and the Green Bay Packers in 1977 had a worse offense than the 1974 Falcons.

[@GetBenched2010]

the 1977 Falcons' offence was worse.

[@moss8448]

the joke in Atl in those days was when u go buy a burger ya get a quarter back.

[@orbyfan]

The "tackling" on that kickoff return just past the 1:30 mark is really quite appalling.

[@DolFan316]

@Matt Joseph Slip? Looks to me like he fell down from exhaustion.

[@jasong428]

Last night my wife said I looked like Fran Tarkenton in his prime.

[@robolson1843]

I love your channel! I really enjoy these videos!

[@richardgentry6996]

Glad Claude Humphrey in Hall of Fame. That's it for me with Falcons way back in the day.

[@MrRiico]

Humphrey was great for the Falcons, but he’s in the HOF as an Eagle.

[@richardgentry6996]

@@MrRiico HOF Career was made as a FALCON. SMh

[@zagnorch1336]

I remember him as the guy on the Eagles who threw the flag back at an official in frustration after drawing a roughing-the-passer penalty against the Raiders in Superb Owl 15.

[@jdsoultrn]

Nobis also belongs in the Hall!

[@richardgentry6996]

@@jdsoultrn middle linebacker. He was good 2.

[@chadwickwhite6107]

I SWEAR these videos are GREAT. However I think that the 1970's and 1980's Atlanta Falcons would have been WAY BETTER OFF just SPIKING the football into the ground on EVERY single OFFENSIVE play!!!!!

[@derekbrown2215]

Probably would have scored more points. ;)

[@AFloodofSolaceJohnWhigham]

This is a great video! Awesome content!!

[@scottconner7930]

47 Years Ago

[@DolFan316]

I am a year older than Al Dodd's child.

[@Alex_Off-Beat]

All these Falcons stories are making me even more impatient for the new Secret Base series!

[@moss8448]

I lived in Atlanta that year and remember it all well.

[@brockgeorge777]

This shows generally good old world values at their worst. Jobs are important, but they are not life itself. That was a revelation to many in Management at that time.

[@DolFan316]

And now things have come full circle. Neither extreme is good.

[@classicrockbeagle]

What was it about the Falcons? They didn;t make a coaching change between seasons until their fourth coaching change

[@Tubewings]

10:43; Or as a certain Tree once said, he was shown the guillotine.

[@lewis9702]

Van Brocklin is proof that just because you're tough, and a disciplinarian doesn't make you a good coach. Players don't mind discipline as long as they're winning. But if you don't know what you're doing, and you try to be a badass, the players, will think you're a joke.

[@josephnicolino8529]

The Dutchman was old school, it's good in some ways, bad in other ways.

[@csnide6702]

4 for 22 with a passer rating of 20.6 ..... with Bob Lee at QB , who cares if Al Dodd is there....... only dictator Van Brocklin.........What a horrible person.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

Al Dodd was better known for helping set up the Tom Dempsey 63 yard FG with an out of bounds catch at the Saints 45 the play before.

[@sharknut]

I gave up being a Falcon fan last year after 35 years. Please. Pick on the Lions for a while

[@ryanc.51]

Great video, but can we discuss team color polyester coaching pants?

[@TheSonicsean]

3:11 and that was the last time ever that a record breaking game winning field goal would be kicked against the Lions.

[@thatsmrtguy4935]

I’d like to point out how technically every single person on this earth would be on your side because Bud Adams and Norm Van Brocklin are both dead. RIP to both of them and RIP Al Dodd

[@gcooper146]

Norm Van Brocklin as an HC sounds crazy but not as crazy as Clive Rush

[@MichaelMartin-qe5ye]

6:26 spot the Gabbert

[@redmustangredmustang]

Man Norm Vam Brocklin was a terrible SOB

[@NukaCola6962]

Honestly, being there to support your wife during birth is more important then football. I would have told the coach to screw off and demand a trade on the spot or else I retire

[@moss8448]

well for one thing you'll be with them way more than a team

[@karlcooper8460]

This sure can be a cold/cruel world at times.

[@DolFan316]

Just wait until people are not allowed to buy food and thrown in jail for not getting a shot that doesn't even work...

[@David.M._1979]

Damn I'm surprised nobody smacked Van Broklin upside the head.

[@stevenfallon4244]

6:25. The only time you’ll see me skip 10 seconds is when I know this overused line is coming

[@therealuncleowen2588]

I'm glad that Dodd was there for the birth of his child.

[@67marlins81]

Bud Adams was always a jerk, no wonder any Oilers player walked away when he was owner

[@tommclain8893]

You said it again. LOL

[@67marlins81]

Sounds like Dodd would have made a much better coach than Van Brocklin....?

[@samsbutchershop7684]

Maybe in this case, because Atlanta was not a good team, it was not a reasonable decision but what if they were a team who was a playoff contender where every game was vital? As a head coach, unless it was a family emergency, I would make the same decision, particularly if the player was a key starter. Also, players should expect that this might be asked of them.

[@1USACitizen192]

Norm Van Brocklin seems like a good coach. Poor players. Should be in hall fame.

[@francisdasta8646]

Van Brocklin ran Fran Tarkenton out of Minnesota

[@rich7787]

Jesus’s dad was a carpenter, I’m sure he swore

[@jeffanderson3962]

Seriously did Van Brocklin have undiagnosed CTE from his QB days?

[@richardadams4928]

Rankin Smith enabling Van Brocklin for SO LONG was a HUGE part of why Atlanta struggled as much as they did. Their horrible draft history didn't help. And once Leeman Bennett brought hope (if not consistency) they fired him in favor of Dan Henning and Marion Campbell, who were consistent, all right. Consistently awful. What a MESS of a franchise.

[@stephaniegormley9982]

3:27 "That Van Brocklin is a real psycho" -Bob Knight

[@Raddlesby]

The thing to keep in mind about Norm Van Brocklin is that he took over an expansion team that had somehow gotten worse under the team's first head coach, Norb Hecker, regressing from 3 wins in their first season of existence to just one win in their second season. Van Brocklin took over midway through the club's third year of existence. They steadily improved under Van Brocklin, going 9-5 in '73, preceded by their first winning season and .500 season in '71 and '72. Expectations were high in '74 following that 9-5 mark in '73. Their first game of '74 vs. the Cowboys was nationally televised. It, as well as the season, turned into a flop. Starting QB Bob Lee mysteriously lost his skills from the prior year, 3rd year QB Pat Sullivan, a Heisman Trophy winner, couldn't throw straight, and rookie Kim McQuilken was just that... a rookie. A team that was thought to be a playoff hopeful preseason became really bad really fast. But still Van Brocklin raised an expansion team to respectability--they did not have a losing season from '71-'73. All that is lost in narrator's prejudicial comments, a narrator who is so unoriginal he keeps saying in video after video the same, now tired, phrase, "Even if a quarterback had spiked the ball on every passing play, he wouldn't have done as bad as (fill in the name of a quarterback here)." Come up with something new, dude! And start telling these stories the way they were. I know, I was there!!

[@rich7787]

Was Brocklin crazy as a QB also? If not, could that have been CTE?

[@ac9559]

The Bud Adams comment was a cheap shot. This was practice, that was a game.

[@karlcooper8460]

As tough as Vince Lombardi was he had a soft heart underneath and I think he would have allowed this.

[@DolFan316]

There's no way he didn't allow this, you think none of his players ever had a wife give birth during a season?

[@orbyfan]

Probably, but fathers didn't used to be present at the births of their children in his day; it's a more recent practice.

[@DolFan316]

@@orbyfan Only because hospitals didn't allow it, for some odd reason. I was born in '73 and my dad wasn't allowed to see my birth either despite being right there. Same thing with my sister's birth in '75. So really, this was about Dodd just being at the hospital without witnessing the actual birth. Bit of a strange hill to die on but Van Brocklin was a bad boss regardless.

[@orbyfan]

@@DolFan316 If I recall correctly, Fred Flintstone was pacing in the waiting room when Pebbles was born, so that practice goes back a long way.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Starr said that Lombardi would fine you 5 bucks if you wanted to be at the birth - but would give you it back on the child's first birthday!

[@lewis9702]

Rex Ryan coach of the Jets?

[@mfdixon1985]

The Oilers situation isn't exactly a parallel to this because at least that's a game. Don't get me wrong, I don't side with Bud Adams there but I can at least see where he's coming from there. It's not baseball, basketball or hockey. You only get 16 games. Missing one can kind of be a big deal. Missing a practice? That's a different story.

[@DolFan316]

Apparently in the '90s medical technology was incapable of inducing birth a day or two early, which is commonplace today.

[@OBESPRING1982]

Abramowicz is mispronounced. UH bram oh witz.

[@stankakol5195]

This video is WAY too woke and liberal for my taste. I fully support Van Brocklin and his decisions.

[@mr.morales4074]

Yea, speaking out about feckless assholes is being "woke" now. No class

[@stankakol5195]

Football is FAR more important than the birth of any kid.

[@okolo22000]

Speak of the devil. Another classic Atlanta Falcons story and another Norm Van Brocklin incident. How about a Norm Van Brocklin story while he actually played for a change? This is in no way meant to be an insult.

[@thelastmanonearth2631]

omg, BACK to the "spike the ball into the ground on every single play"???????? I'm out.