Falcons still need face for franchise

Over the weekend something very strange happend. The Atlanta Falcons had a great draft, and yet, they did not get Georgia Tech star receiver Calvin Johnson.

Great draft. No Calvin. Great draft. No Calvin. I keep repeating that, trying to reconcile the two things in my mind.

It isn't working.

The truth is, the Falcons did make the right picks for their spots, and they were able to get a couple of players much later than they should have. Their second round choices, guard Justin Blalock and cornerback Chris Houston, were steals. Simply put, the team took the best players available while also addressing positions of need.

Then again, with the Falcons, pretty much every position is a position of need.

As for Johnson, the only saving grace is the fact that the Tampa Bay Bucs didn't get him either. The Falcons already have to face Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith, arguably the best receiver in football, twice each year. There is also the Marques Colston and Reggie Bush highlight show in New Orleans that pops up two times on the schedule. Adding Johnson to another division foe could have made the season unbearable.

I'm happy for Johnson, who is getting guru Mike Martz as his offensive coordinator. For that reason and more, Johnson is probably going into a better overall situation in Detroit than he would be getting in Atlanta.

That says something about Atlanta considering that Detroit seems to be a black hole for the careers of young wide receivers. In the past five years the Lions have taken four wideouts in the top 10 picks of the draft, with lone standout Roy Williams becoming anyone worth mentioning.

But the thing that still bothers me about the Falcons missing out on Johnson is that when you have the chance to move up and take the best player in the draft, who is a local product and an allaround good guy, how do you pass on that?

You have to consider that Atlanta is not a sports town. At least not in the way that New york, Philly, Boston or Chicago is a sports town. Fans here need something to get excited about in order to put people in the seats. Johnson could have been that type of player, a Peyton Manning or LaDainian Tomlinson type player, someone who is the best at his position and can star in a few commercials while he's at it.

But there is an even bigger issue than that. Michael Vick. He was meant to be that guy, but not to the detriment of the team. Even putting his character issues aside, Vick has been too heavy on excitement and too light on effectivness. More sizzle than steak.

Now back to those character issues.

Barely three months ago I spent an entire sports editorial talking about them. Now I have a whole new list to talk about. Last week Vick managed a hat trick of off the field problems. The most serious issue occurred when Virginia authorities raided a home that Vick owned there and found 66 dogs, mostly pit bulls, believed to be used in organized dog fighting.

Guys like that really get under my skin. First Deion Sanders, then Brian Jordan, and now Michael Vick. I'm tired of these guys trying their best...to be two-sport athletes.

Granted, Sanders and Jordan went a safer, more legal route in choosing baseball as their second sport. But the glass is half full way of looking at the scenario is that Vick is just edgier.

Still, football or dog fighting, Mike? Pick one. Doing both only means that you don't have the time needed to truly excel at one or the other. As much as I hate to say it, unless you learn to put a little more touch on those short passes, the latter may be the way to go.

Wait, does Nike even have shoe deals for that?

Maybe the whole setup is a little unfair though. Does the presence of about five dozen injured Pit Bulls have to mean there is dog fighting going on? I bet the authorities wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion if they had found 60 pugs there.

It could just be another case of law enforcement profiling based on race. Or as the case may be, breed. No one ever said the canine world was not without its own brand of discrimination.

Still, American Humane Society officials said they had heard for years that Vick had been involved in organized dog fighting, which is a felony offense in 48 states, including Virginia and Georgia. Vick claimed to know nothing of the situation, and ever so thoughtfully was able to enlighten the world as to who the real victim is in this situation.

Himself.

"It's unfortunate that I have to take the heat," Vick said.

I'm sorry, what? Unfortunate? Maybe he and I just have different definitions of what unfortunate entails.

A traffic jam is unfortunate. Stubbing your toe is unfortunate. Staining your favorite shirt is unfortunate. Your cuz runnin' doggie fight club out of your house makes you irresponsible, perhaps criminal, but not so much unfortunate. Maybe what Vick really means is that it is unfortunate that someone spilled the beans in the first place. After all, everyone knows the first rule of doggie fight club: You do not talk about doggie fight club.

In any case, Vick's response proves just how much he does not get it. This is not about bad PR for him, it is about it being bad for the franchise that is paying him millions to be a superstar on the field, and only asking him not to be working his way toward a guest appearance on Cops off the field. Apparently that is asking a little too much.

That's why missing out on Johnson bothers me so much, though I guess the Falcons saw themself in a "tweener" position. A club typically only sacrifices multiple draft picks for a single player if they are A) Only one player away from being a contender or B) Starting over and needing a franchise guy to build a club around.

The Falcons must think they are somewhere in between. The sad reality may be that they are a lot closer to position B than they care to realize, and by ignoring Johnson, just missed out on the perfect centerpiece for the organization.