Tonight is Halloween, and while the Falcons are still enjoying the bye week, the defense is preparing itself for the second half of what has already been a frighteningly dominant season. The defensive unit this season has been scary good; so good, in fact, that we gave the starters the opportunity to associate themselves with a particular monster — or superhero, in some cases — to give you a better idea of how they approach the game
Sean Weatherspoon
Position: Linebacker * Height: 6-foot-1 * Weight: 239 * 2010 stats: 29 tackles, one sack * My favorite monster as a kid: "My favorite monster? I think it would have to be Frankenstein. That was my dude just because he was big. I like the big guys. I didn't like the Boogie Man that much because I didn't know what he looked like. Frankenstein was definitely my guy, though." * The monster I play most like: "The Joker, 'cause I be trickin' them out. The linemen, when they come up I hit them with a shoulder and they thought I was about to hit them with a hand. Next thing you know, I've got the running back."
Mike Peterson
Position: Linebacker * Height: 6-foot-1 * Weight: 233 * 2010 stats: 23 tackles, one forced fumble, one interception * My favorite monster as a kid: "I wasn't really into monsters, man." * The monster I play most like: "Oh, I'm King Kong. I'm King Kong, man. I'm the beast. I'm the beast, man. I'm so like the beast. Everybody was scared of King Kong. He ain't never happy. He's always angry, always mad. That's me."
Curtis Lofton
Position: Linebacker * Height: 6-foot * Weight: 242 * 2010 stats: 58 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception * My favorite monster as a kid: "Shoot, when you're a kid you don't like monsters. I was scared. I was scared of monsters." * The monster I play most like: "The monster I'm like on the field? The Incredible Hulk. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
William Moore
Position: Safety * Height: 6-foot * Weight: 218 * 2010 stats: 26 tackles, one forced fumble, three interceptions * My favorite monster as a kid: "I'm going to have go with, as usual, Chuckie. As usual. Scary, man. You know you see them dolls, you think everyone of them is going to wake up. I was scared of some Chuckie growing up." * The monster I play most like: "Michael Myers. He's quiet. He don't say nothing, people just come up missing."
Thomas DeCoud
Position: Safety * Height: 6-foot * Weight: 193 * 2010 stats: 29 tackles, one interception * My favorite monster as a kid: "I would have to say, it was a old movie. It was a movie monster. Fred Savage was in the movie and then it was like a monster world under his bed. I can't remember the name of the exact movie (Little Monsters), but was a monster from that movie that was my favorite movie." * The monster I play most like: "The werewolf, because Sunday is when the full moon comes out and I turn into the beast."
Brent Grimes
Position: Cornerback * Height: 5-foot-10 * Weight: 181 * 2010 stats: 37 tackles, one interception * My favorite monster as a kid: "Michael Meyers is definitely my favorite one. He was just cool. He was my favorite one." * The monster I play most like: "I would just say Spiderman or something like that, because he's just all over the place and can just be real agile and stuff like that. They used to call me Spiderman in college."
Kroy Biermann
Position: Defensive end * Height: 6-foot-3 * Weight: 260 * 2010 stats: 17 tackles, one sack, one interception, one touchdown * My favorite monster as a kid: "Probably Batman." * The monster I play most like: "I would probably say Batman, just due to the fact that he was always pretty slick at night and you never saw him coming, and before you knew it he was there and on top of you and taking you down."
Corey Peters
Position: Defensive tackle * Height: 6-foot-3 * Weight: 295 * 2010 stats: 15 tackles * Favorite monster as a kid: "We weren't really allowed to dress up as bad stuff, so we always had to go as Biblical characters. I'm not big into scary movies, but I'd say Frankenstein. That's one of the few that I was able to sneak around and watch." * The monster I play most like: "The Incredible Hulk, because you wouldn't like me if I were angry. Is that what he says?"
Jonathan Babineaux
Position: Defensive tackle * Height: 6-foot-2 * Weight: 296 * 2010 stats: 11 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles * Favorite monster as a kid: "I don't know. Alf?" * The monster I play most like: "Freddy Krueger, because Freddy has style. He'll come out of nowhere and get you with the scissors, you know? That's just me. I utilized my quickness and I just come out of nowhere and be back there making plays and stuff."
John Abraham
Position: Defensive end * Height: 6-foot-4 * Weight: 263 * 2010 stats: 15 tackles, six sacks * Favorite monster as a kid: "I was scared of Freddy Krueger. He was a nightmare guy, so whenever I'd go to sleep, I'd think about Freddy. I never thought he was real, but he still scared me." * The monster I play most like: "Predator. You already know that one. Predator."
- Dunta Robinson was not available to interview for this feature
