1988 Atlanta Falcons season

1988 Atlanta Falcons season
Head coach	Marion Campbell
Home field	Fulton County Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	3 G Bill Fralic FB John Settle CB Scott Case

The 1988 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise’s 23rd season in the National Football League (NFL). The team was marred by tragedy when cornerback David Croudip died on October 10 after a cocaine overdose.^[1] It would be the first of three player deaths of the team in the space of two seasons.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1988 NFL draft

1988 Atlanta Falcons draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	1	Aundray Bruce	Linebacker	Auburn
2	28	Marcus Cotton	Linebacker	USC
3	56	Alex Higdon	Tight end	Ohio State
5	110	Charles Dimry	Cornerback	UNLV
6	138	George Thomas	Wide receiver	UNLV
6	140	Houston Hoover	Guard	Jackson State
7	166	Michael Haynes	Wide receiver	Northern Arizona
8	194	Phillip Brown	Linebacker	Alabama
9	222	James Primus	Running back	UCLA
10	250	Stan Clayton	Guard	Penn State
11	278	James Milling	Wide receiver	Maryland
12	306	Carter Wiley	Safety	Virginia Tech
Made roster

^[2]

Undrafted free agents

1988 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Ted Bates	Defensive end	Norfolk State
Chris Clauss	Punter	Penn State
Mark Comalander	Quarterback	Rice
Robert Houghilin	Kicker	Iowa
Danny James	Wide receiver	Morehouse
Gary McGuire	Linebacker	Houston
Vinson Smith	Linebacker	East Carolina

Personnel

Staff

1988 Atlanta Falcons staff

Front office Chairman of the board – Rankin M. Smith Sr. President – Rankin M. Smith, Jr. Executive vice president – Taylor Smith Director of player personnel – Ken Herock Director of pro personnel – Bill Jobko Head coaches Head coach – Marion Campbell Offensive coaches Assistant head coach/offense – Jim Hanifan Offensive coordinator – Rod Dowhower Running backs – Steve Crosby Receivers – Jimmy Raye Tight ends – Foge Fazio

Defensive coaches Assistant head coach/defense – Fred Bruney Defensive line – Tommy Brasher Linebackers – Chuck Clausen Defensive assistant – Claude Humphrey Special teams coaches Special teams – Foge Fazio Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Tim Jorgensen

Roster

1988 Atlanta Falcons roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Kerwin Bell  7 Hugh Millen 12 Chris Miller Running backs (RB) 35 Keith Griffin 33 Gene Lang 49 James Primus 42 Gerald Riggs 44 John Settle Wide receivers (WR) 82 Stacey Bailey 85 Lew Barnes 86 Floyd Dixon 81 Michael Haynes 89 Jessie Hester 84 James Milling Tight ends (TE) 87 Danzell Lee 45 Ken Whisenhunt 80 Gary Wilkins

Offensive linemen (OL) 74 Stan Clayton G 69 Houston Hoover T 78 Mike Kenn T 62 Brett Miller T 67 Paul Oswald C 55 Wayne Radloff C 61 John Scully G 66 George Yarno Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Rick Bryan DE 98 Greg Brown DE/DT 75 Tony Casillas DT 76 Mike Gann DE 94 Charles Martin DE 73 Mitch Willis DT

Linebackers (LB) 93 Aundray Bruce OLB 51 Marcus Cotton OLB 99 Tim Green OLB 95 Michael Reid ILB 58 Jessie Tuggle ILB 54 Joel Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 23 Bobby Butler CB 25 Scott Case CB 20 Evan Cooper SS 22 Charles Dimry CB 41 Tim Gordon FS 27 Calvin Loveall CB 34 Robert Moore SS 37 Elbert Shelley CB/S Special teams  5 Greg Davis K  3 Rick Donnelly P

Reserve 53 Phillip Brown LB (IR) 10 Scott Campbell QB (IR) 28 Bret Clark S (IR) 56 Joe Costello DE (IR)  8 Steve Dils QB (IR) 64 Jamie Dukes G (IR) 24 Larry Emery RB (IR) 48 Kenny Flowers RB (IR) 79 Bill Fralic G (IR) 65 Garry Frank G (IR) 88 Alex Higdon TE (IR) 59 John Rade LB (IR) 52 Vinson Smith LB (IR) 29 Sylvester Stamps RB (IR) 35 George Thomas WR (IR) 71 Mitch Young DE (IR) Rookies in italics 47 active, 16 reserve

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 4	at Detroit Lions	L 17–31	0–1	Pontiac Silverdome	31,075
2	September 11	New Orleans Saints	L 21–29	0–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	48,901
3	September 18	at San Francisco 49ers	W 34–17	1–2	Candlestick Park	60,168
4	September 25	at Dallas Cowboys	L 20–26	1–3	Texas Stadium	39,702
5	October 2	Seattle Seahawks	L 20–31	1–4	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	28,619
6	October 9	Los Angeles Rams	L 0–33	1–5	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	30,852
7	October 16	at Denver Broncos	L 14–30	1–6	Mile High Stadium	75,287
8	October 23	New York Giants	L 16–23	1–7	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	45,092
9	October 30	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 27–24	2–7	Veterans Stadium	60,091
10	November 6	Green Bay Packers	W 20–0	3–7	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	29,952
11	November 13	San Diego Chargers	L 7–10	3–8	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	26,329
12	November 20	at Los Angeles Raiders	W 12–6	4–8	Anaheim Stadium	40,967
13	November 27	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17–10	5–8	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	14,020
14	December 4	San Francisco 49ers	L 3–13	5–9	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	44,048
15	December 11	at Los Angeles Rams	L 7–22	5–10	Anaheim Stadium	42,828
16	December 18	at New Orleans Saints	L 9–10	5–11	Louisiana Superdome	60,566
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers^(2)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	369	294	L1
Los Angeles Rams^(5)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	407	293	W3
New Orleans Saints	10	6	0	.625	3–3	6–6	312	283	W1
Atlanta Falcons	5	11	0	.313	1–5	4–8	244	315	L3

References

1. "Falcon David Croudip Dies; Cocaine Cocktail Suspected". Los Angeles Times. October 10, 1988 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "1988 Atlanta Falcons Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2013.

External links

• 1988 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com