To properly kickoff our Fans' Favorite Falcon series, presented by Ford, we couldn't think of a better way than to have a play-in matchup between some of the best Falcons to ever suit up in Atlanta.
It's your job now to determine which of the following three players will make it into the top 16 and advance to face No. 1 seed Jessie Tuggle.
Ray Buchanan
Buchanan's stint with the Falcons starts in 1997 with head coach Dan Reeves' first year with the franchise. Buchanan intercepts five passes that year and finishes his time with the Falcons in 2003 with 30 interceptions in red and black. Buchanan recorded seven interceptions during the 1998 Super Bowl season that included a trip to the Pro Bowl for the cornerback. But it wasn't just his on-field attributes that earned him favor with the fanbase. Buchanan was an outspoken member of the "Dirty Birds," who wasn't afraid to exchange words with any opponents.
Morten Andersen
"The Great Dane" is a fan favorite for many reasons, but perhaps most notably for kicking the winning field goal against the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFC Championship game that sent the Falcons to their only Super Bowl to date. In addition to playing for the Falcons for eight seasons, Andersen also suited up for New Orleans for 13 years, the New York Giants for one, Kansas City for two and Minnesota for one. He holds the distinction of being the Falcons' all-time leading scorer, and also holds the same distinction with the Saints.
Mike Kenn
You couldn't think of the Falcons' offensive line between 1978 and 1994 without thinking of tackle Mike Kenn. A member of the prestigious Ring of Honor, Kenn played and started in 251 games for the Falcons and earned five Pro Bowl trips and was twice named to the All-Pro First-Team. Protecting quarterbacks Steve Bartkowski, Dave Archer, Scott Campbell and Chris Miller, among others, was his primary job, and each one would likely sing the praises of Kenn off the field as a leader as much as his attributes on it.
Matchup
This certainly isn't an easy task for fans. Ray Buchanan, Morten Andersen and Mike Kenn are considered fan favorites for very different reasons — Buchanan for his off-field swagger, Andersen for his scoring ability and clutch play and Kenn for his longevity and service to the franchise. We're also talking about somewhat different time periods here. More seasoned fans may like Kenn better for the amount of time he played with the Falcons, something that's so rare to see in the free agency era, or later generations of Falcons fans may just remember Andersen's kick or Buchanan's epic war of words with Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe. Plenty of differences surround each of these historic Falcons players, but the one similarity they have is that they're all deserving of being in the top 16. But it's up to you to decide who moves on.
Download the entire bracket here. * Visit the Fans' Favorite Falcon main page
Voting for the play-in round will conclude Saturday, July 2 at 8 p.m. ET.
