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Master of Ossus wrote:Arthur Blank is PISSED about Petrino's resignation. His press conference about it is up on NFL.com. He doesn't go around screaming "Petrino is who we thought he was... Go ahead and crown his ass," or anything, but he makes it ABUNDANTLY clear that he's ticked off about it and he thinks that Petrino stabbed him.

Blank fumes over Petrino's departure

PA SportsTicker

Published: Thursday, December 13, 2007

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank claimed on Wednesday he felt "abused" and "betrayed" by coach Bobby Petrino's decision to quit the NFL and return to the college ranks with Arkansas.

Petrino left his coaching job at Louisville last January to join the Falcons.

"My issue is not that he elected to go back to coaching in college," Blank said. "My issue is timing. My issue is responsibility. My issue is his commitment to this organisation."

The announcement of Petrino's departure after less than one season with the Falcons came only hours before he was presented as the new Razorbacks coach. But what particularly disappointed Blank is that the decision came only a day after Petrino had reassured him that his future was in Atlanta.

"Bobby's resignation caps off an already unprecedentedly difficult year," Blank said Wednesday, two days after he saw franchise quarterback Michael Vick sentenced to 23 months for his role in an illegal dogfighting operation. "I think the best way to describe how we feel is betrayed and let down."

Blank revealed that Petrino had spoken to both him and Falcons general manager Rich McKay about numerous concerns in the past few days. That meeting came after the Falcons learned that Petrino was interested by the opportunity presented at Arkansas.

"We knew that Bobby was a candidate of interest in the college ranks, but at no time were we approached by a university asking for permission to speak to Bobby," Blank said. "However, we did learn of Bobby's interest in Arkansas late last week."

But after Petrino met with team executives again Monday, Blank said he felt as though Petrino's concerns were being addressed to the coach's satisfaction.

Blank said he asked Petrino directly what he should say about the coach's future during a national television broadcast of the Falcons' game with the New Orleans Saints on Monday night.

"Bobby extended his hand and said, 'You can tell them you have a head coach,'" Blank said.

Bitter Falcons feel betrayed by bolting Petrino

Updated 1h 18m ago

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Coward. Quitter. Hypocrite. And those were some of the nicer things the Atlanta Falcons had to say about their former coach on Wednesday.

Bobby Petrino left behind a bitter team and a boss who felt betrayed, skipping town to return to the college ranks with not so much as a face-to-face meeting with his players.

The Falcons watched him on television the previous night, yukking it up at a giddy, late-night news conference in Arkansas, then showed up at their lockers to find a 78-word letter from their ex-coach, whose tenure in the NFL lasted all of 13 games.

"Atlanta Falcons Players," it began.

"Out of my respect for you, I am letting you know that, with a heavy heart, I resigned today as the Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons. This decision was not easy but was made in the best interest of me and my family. While my desire would have been to finish out what has been a difficult season for us all, circumstances did not allow me to do so. I appreciate your hard work and wish you the best.

"Sincerely, Bobby Petrino."

While the aloof Petrino had few friends in the locker room, and there was actually a sense of relief he was gone, the Falcons (3-10) felt totally abandoned in a season where so much already has gone wrong.

First, Michael Vick.

Now, this.

"It got to the point where guys really didn't care if he left or not," running back Warrick Dunn said. "But the way he decided to leave, to me, was just not right."

Falcons owner Arthur Blank sounded as though he had just been stabbed in the back. He got a call late last week from Dallas owner Jerry Jones, an Arkansas alumnus, to say the school was interested in talking to Petrino about its coaching vacancy.

Blank said he told Jones the Falcons had no intention of letting the Razorbacks speak with their coach, and general manager Rich McKay confirmed that position in follow-up calls with Jones.

That was followed by a series of meetings over the weekend in which Petrino laid out some areas of concern, and the Falcons thought they had addressed them all. In fact, Blank said he met again with the coach on Monday, just hours before Atlanta's 34-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints, to make sure he wasn't planning to leave.

"He stood up, we shook hands and he said, 'You have a head coach,' " Blank said.

Twenty-four hours later, Petrino submitted his resignation, hopped on a plane to Arkansas and signed a deal as Razorbacks coach.

"The best way to describe the way we feel," Blank said, "is betrayed."

The Falcons hastily chose secondary coach Emmitt Thomas to run the team on an interim basis for the final three games; he becomes the first black head coach in team history.

McKay said he would get to work Wednesday night going over the list of potential candidates for the permanent job, a task he never expected to be doing just 11 months after hiring the last coach.

Blank said he has no reason to believe that Jones was involved in Petrino's sudden resignation, and McKay said NFL tampering rules don't apply to college jobs anyway. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league didn't have enough information to comment.

During his final days with the Falcons, Petrino expressed to both Blank and McKay his concerns about dealing with pro athletes. There were plenty of warning signs he wasn't coping well with players who weren't afraid to speak their minds or question the coaching staff.

"This league is not for everybody," safety Lawyer Milloy said. "This league is for real men. I think he realized he didn't belong here."

A couple of Pro Bowlers, DeAngelo Hall and Alge Crumpler, had openly criticized Petrino's domineering tactics. Plenty of others expressed their frustration in private.

"We're not college kids," said Dunn, a 32-year-old, 11-year veteran. "I'm a professional, grown man. Look at me eye to eye. Talk to me. But Bobby wasn't like that."

Dunn said Petrino's rules ranged from a ban on televisions in the locker room at the team's suburban training complex to frowning on any loud talking at team dinners when the Falcons were on the road.

"It got to the point where I never went down to team dinners to eat because I was not going to sit there in silence," Dunn said. "It's a joke. You tell kindergartners things like that."

The first sign of trouble was Hall's sideline confrontation with Petrino in Week 3, which led to the cornerback being fined $100,000 and held out for the first half of the next game.

A couple of weeks later, Crumpler complained about Petrino's offense and said the veterans felt they were being phased out. Those concerns came to a head when 35-year-old Grady Jackson, one of the team's most effective interior linemen, was surprisingly cut during the bye week.

Now playing with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jackson didn't sound surprised about Petrino's sudden departure.

"It just shows his true color, like a coward with a yellow stripe down his back," Jackson said.

Around the league, others took note of Petrino's shocking departure.

"He snuck out in the middle of the night like the Baltimore Colts did," Kansas City Chiefs running back Kolby Smith said. Smith played for Petrino at Louisville.

Even some of Petrino's fellow coaches were dismayed by his tactics.

"For my profession, I'm always very disappointed when things like this happen," Baltimore's Brian Billick said. "Kind of leave it at that. This profession needs to handle itself better at times."

The Falcons were particularly upset about Petrino's jovial demeanor at his first news conference in Arkansas, where he even participated in the school's "calling the hogs" cheer. It was the first time any of the players could remember him smiling.

"The slap in the face was ultimately when he showed up at a 11 o'clock, or whatever time it was in Arkansas, doing the 'pig sooey' hog call," Milloy said. "It seemed like was right in rhythm with the beat. He had been practicing."

All Petrino left on his way out the door was that letter.

Milloy had a copy of it taped above his locker, with a red "X" through Petrino's words and the player's own assessment written in: "Coward."

"I feel like I've been sleeping with the enemy the past eight months," Milloy said.

Center Todd McClure had no intention of keeping his copy.

"I think it's already in the trash," he said bitterly.

Defensive end Jamaal Anderson, the Falcons' first-round pick from Arkansas, was asked what he would tell his alma mater about its new coach.

"One word: Disloyal," Anderson replied.

Darth Fanboy wrote:Take a small wad of cash, and bet on the Dolphins to beat the Patriots. Do it. You know if that happens it will make the entire season worth it.

Darth Quorthon wrote:No shit, Hav? I had no idea, thanks for the enlightenment.

I concede that my post seemed reactionary and I apologize. I'm perfectly willing to give Blank a pass for what he said considering the shit he's had to deal with this year, but you know that there are probably going to be plenty of people who won't.

havokeff wrote:

On the Dolphins front..... BWAHAHA

aerius wrote:

Darth Fanboy wrote:Take a small wad of cash, and bet on the Dolphins to beat the Patriots. Do it. You know if that happens it will make the entire season worth it.

One of my friends is a diehard Dolphins fan and a compulsive football gambler, every weekend during football season he'll spend a good $50 on Proline tickets.

Everytime he picks the Dolphins, they find a way to screw him over. If he picks them to win, they lose, if he picks them to lose they end up covering the spread or winning outright. He gave up on picking the Dolphins, he says he might as well throw away the ticket if he picks them.

Kuja wrote:

havokeff wrote:

On the Dolphins front..... BWAHAHA

Havekoff, you fucking FAIL

Darth Quorthon wrote:I hate to beat a dead horse, but I couldn't resist chuckling when I heard some guy (I think on ESPN) say that Petrino's move make Nick Saban's maneuvering into the Alabama job look classy.


On a separate note, does anybody else think that Arkansas could possibly be guilty of tampering? I'm no legal expert, but Petrino's resignation and hasty hiring by Arkansas seems a bit fishy to me.

havokeff wrote:

Kuja wrote:

havokeff wrote:

On the Dolphins front..... BWAHAHA

Havekoff, you fucking FAIL

Bitter much?

Chardok wrote:

havokeff wrote:

Kuja wrote: Havekoff, you fucking FAIL

Bitter much?

No, you broke the fucking formatting, you fuckin' ape.

havokeff wrote:

Chardok wrote:

havokeff wrote: Bitter much?

No, you broke the fucking formatting, you fuckin' ape.

HA! Oh yeah I sure did! Is that what happened to the Dolphins this year?

EDIT: Fixed it. To bad there isn't an edit button for the Fins.

Elfdart wrote:Chardok, all is not lost. The Dolphins still have a crack at...

...THE PATRIOTS!

Don't laugh. Don't cry, either. When division rivals go at it, you can chuck the W-L records. I remember when the Redskins were the defending Super Bowl champions and had a home game against a wretched winless Cowboys team that found new ways to lose every week. The Cowboys won a single game that season, and their upset of the Redskins was it.

Well, I almost wrote that with a straight face. Poor Chardok!



I think the Texans will whip the Donkeys tonight.

havokeff wrote:Bill Walsh.

havokeff wrote:OK, assuming the Fins go 0-16, along with the Pats going 19-0, would you rather have that historical "achievement" or the season the Falcons have had?