ATLANTA -- "Atlanta is peaking at the right time. They will be hard to beat," Bob Whitlow said.
He should know, he's seen a lot of football in 80 years. He also played a lot of it - 9 years as a center in the NFL that included one season with the first Atlanta Falcons team in 1966.
"We scrimmaged about 18 or 20 days in a row which is unheard of now," Whitlow said. "In fact, you can only work out once a day now. Back then, you worked out twice a day."
The times have changed, but the desire to win is still the same. The oldest living Flacons player said he is ready to finally see his team win the Super Bowl.
"That would be neat. In fact, with their new stadium, it would be awfully nice to hang a banner in there, it's first year," Whitlow said. "Look at Dallas and that big stadium they have. They still don't have a banner."
He's still pretty good at trash talking and with his eighty-first birthday on the Horizon, he's still in pretty good health. He's also an inspiration to his sons Stephen and Scott.
"I think dad's first signing bonus was a chicken dinner and $250," Stephen said. "These are the guys that built the league."
"A lot of the old football players are forgotten," Scott said. "So it's phenomenal to see the love and support we've got from people we've never met before."
And they hope that support extends to the Falcons organization. They also hope that 51, the number on their father's Atlanta Falcons jersey, is a magic number that will align with a fairytale finish for the Falcons at Super Bowl LI - or 51.
