1988 Atlanta Falcons season

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	G Bill Fralic; FB John Settle; CB Scott Case
	← 1987; Falcons seasons; 1989 →;

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[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1988 Atlanta Falcons draft
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	Defensive back	Virginia Tech
Made roster

^[2]

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 final roster**

	Quarterbacks 8 Steve Dils 7 Hugh Millen 12 Chris Miller Running backs 47 Rick Badanjek 33 Gene Lang 49 James Primus 42 Gerald Riggs 44 John Settle FB Wide receivers 82 Stacey Bailey 85 Lew Barnes 86 Floyd Dixon 81 Michael Haynes 84 James Milling Tight ends 87 Danzell Lee		Offensive linemen 74 Stan Clayton G 64 Jamie Dukes G 79 Bill Fralic 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 C Defensive linemen 77 Rick Bryan DE 96 Reggie Camp DE 75 Tony Casillas DT 76 Mike Gann DE 73 Mitch Willis DT		Linebackers 93 Aundray Bruce 51 Marcus Cotton 99 Tim Green 59 John Rade 95 Michael Reid 52 Vinson Smith 58 Jessie Tuggle Defensive backs 23 Bobby Butler CB 28 Bret Clark FS 25 Scott Case CB 20 Evan Cooper SS 22 Charles Dimry CB 34 Robert Moore SS 37 Elbert Shelley S Special teams 5 Greg Davis K 3 Rick Donnelly P		Reserve lists 10 Scott Campbell QB (IR) 24 Larry Emery RB (IR) 88 Alex Higdon TE (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 4	at Detroit Lions	L 31–17	31,075
2	September 11	New Orleans Saints	L 29–21	48,901
3	September 18	at San Francisco 49ers	W 34–17	60,168
4	September 25	at Dallas Cowboys	L 26–20	39,702
5	October 2	Seattle Seahawks	L 31–20	28,619
6	October 9	Los Angeles Rams	L 33–0	30,852
7	October 16	at Denver Broncos	L 30–14	75,287
8	October 23	New York Giants	L 23–16	45,092
9	October 30	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 27–24	60,091
10	November 6	Green Bay Packers	W 20–0	29,952
11	November 13	San Diego Chargers	L 10–7	26,329
12	November 20	at Los Angeles Raiders	W 12–6	40,967
13	November 27	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17–10	14,020
14	December 4	San Francisco 49ers	L 13–3	44,048
15	December 11	at Los Angeles Rams	L 22–7	42,828
16	December 18	at New Orleans Saints	L 10–9	60,566

Standings[]

NFC West
view talk	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[]

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

External links[]

1988 Atlanta Falcons at Pro-Football-Reference.com

[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.

[1]

[2]

v t Atlanta Falcons
Founded in 1966 Based in Atlanta, Georgia Headquartered in Flowery Branch, Georgia
Franchise	Franchise Team history Seasons Players Quarterbacks Head coaches Expansion draft Draft history First-round draft picks
Stadiums	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Georgia Dome Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Culture	Rankin M. Smith Sr. Arthur Blank Freddie Falcon Cheerleaders The "Dirty Bird" (dance) "2 Legit 2 Quit"
Lore	Grits Blitz Gary Anderson's missed field goal Michael Vick dog fighting investigation 28–3
Rivalries	Carolina Panthers New Orleans Saints Philadelphia Eagles
Wild card / First round berths (8)	1978 1982 1991 1995 2002 2008 2011 2017
Division championships (6)	1980 1998 2004 2010 2012 2016
Conference championships (2)	1998 2016
Ring of Honor	10 21 28 31 42 57 58 60 78 84 87
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: South Division
Category

v t Atlanta Falcons seasons
1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance