Atlanta Falcons - Fan Rally

On the catwalk

Falcons unveil new uniforms at fan rally

April 24, 2003

Fred Kahlil: Earlier this month the Falcons released their new logo, a dynamic new logo, and today we rare here to see for the very first time what we all believe will be the coolest uniforms in the National Football League. But right now, I want to introduce the man who is responsible for not only the new logo and the new uniforms, but the man who has transformed this franchise and has made it a Super Bowl contender. Please welcome the Falcons’ chairman, President, CEO, and all around big guy, Arthur Blank.

Arthur Blank: Thank you very much, thank you. Thank you all for being here. I’m obviously not in the brand new uniform, I’m in my own uniform today, but you’re here to see the new uniforms. I just want to take a couple minutes to say thank you for being here today. A lot of you had to take time off from work to do this today and I appreciate that and I want to thank you also for your commitment to this team. This really is your team and basically everything that I’ve done, everything that we’ve done as a club in the last year and a quarter has been a result of what you’ve really told us. People often are amazed at the success of this football team, the football club and filling up the Dome. And I’ve said time and time again, that’s not a credit to me, that’s a credit to you and you ought to give yourselves a tremendous amount of applause for really responding. Honestly, it’s really been great. When you give them what they want, people actually do respond.

The new logo that we unveiled about 30 days ago has been a tremendous success. Over 80 percent of our fans have supported the logo and said ‘it’s exactly what we want’ and I think you’ll see that today in the new uniforms. Our uniforms were really, in large part developed by our fans. We had a lot of design support from the National Football League and we appreciate that. Our own design team internally worked on that. A lot of the input came from you, our fans. And a lot of the input also came from our players. Trust me, it’s not easy to get four and a half million people in the greater Atlanta area and all our fans throughout the state to agree on upon a single uniform. We have some fans here from Canada as well. Thank you, that’s great. It’s also not easy to get 53 players to agree, so when you have a guy like a Mike Vick who says ‘make it all red’ and a guy like Keith Brooking who says ‘make it all black’ for obvious reasons and then you try and find something in the middle and it really is not easy. But it was great fun doing this and it was great fun working with the entire design team.

I think this uniform represents speed, it represents strength, it represents the personality of this football team and I know you’re very excited about seeing the guys come out here to show you this uniform. I want to thank Mike Vick. I want to thank Keith Brooking and Warrick Dunn and Patrick Kerney and (Alge) Crumpler and Peerless Price, our newest addition. Peerless did not have a vote in this because he wasn’t here. But he has just told me backstage that he thinks the uniforms are really cool. So again, thank you for being here. I want to turn the podium back over to Fred Kahlil and I look forward to seeing you all in a little bit. Thanks a lot, God bless.

Kahlil: Thank you, Mr. Blank. Mr. Blank, come back out here, just for a second, please. I’ve got to tell you, we travel with the team and when we got on the bus in Green Bay and this guy is the owner of the team, he jumps from his car, runs onto the bus and starts getting everybody pumped up, screaming “let’s go Falcons!” That’s the kind of owner you’ve got right here. Today’s unveiling is presented by Champ Sports and with us today are Reuben Hannan, senior vice president of Foot Locker, Incorporated and Mark Williams, director of brand marketing for Champ Sports. Reuben and Mark, thank you for your support, we appreciate it. And now, it’s the time we’ve all been waiting for, time to unveil the Falcons new uniforms.

First, we take a look at the road uniforms. Please excuse me, I haven’t been a fashion host before. Please welcome running back Warrick Dunn and Peerless Price. As you can see, the new helmet is a sleek metallic black and the new uniform is built for speed. The red and white detailing on the sleeve was inspired by the talons of a falcon. The sleeve also features the Falcons new logo. And the logo type is also embroidered on the chest as you can see.

Now it’s time to see what the Falcons are going to be wearing when they’re at home at the Georgia Dome in their brand new home uniforms. Defensive end Patrick Kerney and tight end Alge Crumpler. The red trimmed moves from the jersey to the pants and ends with a flare at the knee. The numbers and font and the bold dropped shadow were developed exclusively for the Falcons. And Patrick Kerney, if you noticed, did a little Derek Zoolander for us. I think the guys look unbelievable. What do you think?

The greatest thing about the new uniforms is its flexibility. There are other options available to the team that can be incorporated at various times. To show you a couple of these options, please welcome the Falcons’ players selected to the 2002 Pro Bowl, Keith Brooking and Mike Vick. The black pants are going to be worn for special occasions, prime time, things like that.

Patrick Kerney: We’ve got to stop this. We’ve got to bring up the man responsible for all this. We’ve got a jersey for the man himself, Mr. Arthur Blank if you could come on up.

Kahlil: Turn around a little bit, model it for us. I’ve got to tell you, Mr. Blank, it looks especially good with French cuffs, don’t you think? The cuff links are a great touch. Well let’s hear it for all the players and the Falcons new uniforms! Don’t forget, you can get your brand new jersey before you leave the mall today at Champ Sports. The Falcons new jersey will be available exclusively at Champ Sports through Sunday. Champ Sports is the exclusive sports retailer of the Atlanta Falcons. We thank you all for coming out today!