 It's Friday night in the A, and you know what that means. Kelly Price and Tori McElhady coming at you on Rise Up Tonight, presented by AT&T. Atlanta, we have a real football game this weekend. Tori, how pumped are you to finally see this team that we've been writing and talking and writing some more about? I mean, girl, I need some live football in my life, especially after what we saw in college football this past weekend. Oh, I know, right? I mean, shoot, let's get that at the professional level. Let's get going here. Yeah, so I hear you on that one. That is an amazing way to start the season with rivalry week, as they say in the SEC. This one means just a little bit more. And there have been some wild endings the last couple of meetings between these Saints and these Falcons. I know Young Waikoo is ready to do his part, again, if needed. But let's huddle up and talk about some different things. Let's huddle up with Kelly and Tori on the World of Falcons Football. First up, the offense, particularly how it's going to look a lot different. In case you've been living under a rock, this is Marcus Mariota's huddle to command now. And we saw a little sneak peek in the preseason of what this offense will look like with number one running it, particularly how to look with him actually running around. How do you expect all that to translate into a real, regular season game scenario, Tori? If there's one thing I feel like I learned about Marcus Mariota this preseason, it was that this is a guy who isn't afraid to tuck it, run it, and take a hit. Marcus adds a physicality to the quarterback position that, let's be honest, we haven't seen in a while. But I mean, really and truly, we have to respect what Marcus does when he moves outside of the pocket. It's a new layer of this offense that I personally am really excited to see. Absolutely, Maddie Wills, no more. Meanwhile, we saw some running backs show out this preseason for the Falcons, but their names weren't Cordero Patterson and Damian Williams, which will now be Atlanta's top two backs. We know the Falcons will look a lot different rushing the football than they did in the preseason, but how and how important is it that this offense establishes itself on the ground early on? You're absolutely right. This is something that we really haven't been able to get a solid gauge up throughout the preseason. When it comes to running the ball, we saw a lot of what Tyler Alger could do, but we haven't seen a lot of Cordero Patterson and Damian Williams. They've taken very limited reps running the ball this preseason. So how they run the ball, how this offensive line blocks for them, this is something that we will soon find out. And it's something that I actually hope that we see them establish early against the Stout Saints defense on Sunday. That being said, the Falcons defense will be hoping to start strong as well. While new starters on that side of the ball, there's nine of them from this time last year. They've looked ahead of the offense all training camp, but can that translate to a game setting? It's crazy when you say nine, because that's a wild number, but I will say this. I think it's safe to say that this secondary is gonna be better than it was a year ago. I have really, really liked what I've seen from AJ Turrell, Casey Hayward, Richie Grant, Jalen Hawkins, just to name a few. It's the front seven that I think actually has a lot to prove. They're facing a mobile quarterback on Sunday against James Winston, and I want to see them improve by not having a guy leak out of the pocket. We saw that happen a lot with the opposing quarterbacks last year against the Falcons. It'll be a real test for this defense with the weapons that James Winston has at his disposal. Absolutely. It was the final Sunday without pregame fashion statements for a while for the Atlanta Falcons, but we have one more from the preseason finale for you tonight in this week's edition of Falcons Fits. Had to get your favorite tight end in here, the Felipe Frank story. We love a floral moment. We love the ripped jeans. It is way too hot for actual jeans. Just rip them off. Every time I wore ripped jeans and a man said something to me about getting those half off, I would be a very rich woman. So personally, I'm glad to see that Felipe is supporting the ripped jeans movement. Can you guys know what goes great with some ripped jeans? These awesome sweatshirts. Please look. The Dirty Bird collection. Dirty Bird kickoff collection. This is available online for you guys to purchase this limited edition drip. And may I say, unbelievably soft. They're on top of this relaxed, cozy fit. We love to see it. I think we're gonna be living in these once the weather crop puts with us. Here's the thing. Kelly and I were actually given these exact sweatshirts a couple of days ago and we went home and immediately put them on. So that should tell you a lot about what we think about this product. We literally sent each other selfies. Hey, look, I'm working for you in my sweatshirt. That is how comfortable these are. So we have been influenced you guys. All right, well, we would like to see at least a couple Falcons touchdowns, right? No matter who scores it. So we asked some defensive players what their touchdown dance would be if they found their way into the end zone in our question of the week. I'm still trying to get the, the uh, that new dance. The Lord, the hate, baby, baby. I'm trying to get that one down. I've been practicing. I can't do it right now. I was gonna say, we gotta see. Now I'm trying to practice. My high clothes doing, I'm practicing. So if it happened right now though, if you had to do a dance right now, that's what it would be. I just, I just do like a salute to the crowd. You know, so simple. The A, you know, foes, all types of stuff. Ooh, right now, probably a little nerdy dance for my boy back in New York. Give him a little. Give him a little, give him a little. I don't dance either, personally. So I would not do a dance, but I would do something, but I just don't know what, but I'll come up with something. If I do something, it would be natural. Otherwise I wouldn't do anything at all. Other than like celebrate with teammates, obviously, but like something on my own. Now, yeah, it would be natural. So now I'm really hoping for a Lorenzo Carter, like pick six, cause I need to see that whatever that was. Whatever it was. I mean, I don't personally know what it was. I'm, I'm also team like AJ, like just the salute. Like it's just really subtle or I'm doing it. I'm doing like a little like curtsy. Oh, I like curtsy. Well, remember Kyle Pitts with the, with the tea celebration in London. That was a good one. That was good. But yeah, I do like the salute. Keep it classy. Keep it simple. Actually, like you've been there before. Don't make a big deal of it, you know, just another pick six for AJ Terrell. That would be great to see. All right. Well, coming up on Rise Up Tonight, Falcon's legend, Roddy White pulls up to chat about rivalry week, his predictions for the season and why he looked so small next to Drake London during training camp. Plus a group of Falcons give back to first responders at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta earlier this week. That story is coming up next on Rise Up Tonight. Rise Up Tonight is presented by AT&T and brought to you by Georgia Lottery. Today could be the day. By Home Depot, how doers get more done? By Mercedes Benz, the best of nothing and by Truist committed to a better future. We're just days away from a new season of Falcons football. But even as they lock in for kickoff, some Falcons spent part of their off day this week celebrating heroes in the community. Victor Prieto has that story. As we Rise Up for Atlanta brought to you by Truist. Prizes, food and players. In celebrating the return to football season, the Falcons organization showed out to the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Throwing a season kickoff party presented by Orange Theory to show its appreciation to healthcare workers. Over 300 nurses, doctors and support staff enjoyed free food and prizes at the hospital's courtyard. We have a job of going out there and playing football, but you know, people have real, real deal jobs where they gotta save people's lives every single day. So an opportunity to give back to those people is, you know, one we wouldn't pass up. The stuff they do is create such a positive impact in the world and really appreciate it for them. And I don't think that's been more highlighted than the past couple of years. With the NFL loosening its tight COVID-19 restrictions, Falcons players like Alameda Zaccheos and Chris Lindstrom were able to return to the community and give back personally. Something that's been tough to do recently. The past couple of years we've been having to do a lot of these community relations events through Zoom or, you know, not as direct impact as we have been, but we have such a great community relations team here. And it's really awesome and exciting this year to have all these events coming. Just the community outreach is gonna be, you know, much more higher than last year. And, you know, that's what this organization is about, not just, you know, playing football, but taking care of the people that, you know, take care and support us. Wow! For Rise Up Tonight, Victor Pieto, Fox Five Sports. Awesome stuff. Thanks, Victor. As we roll on here on Rise Up Tonight, Arthur Smith went off on the Twitter GMs this week and he was in rare form in the best way possible. That along with our hot takes still come. And a Falcons Ring of Honor member tells us what he expects from this year's squad. We go in the Nests with Roddy White next. Rise Up Tonight is presented by AT&T and brought to you by Georgia Lottery. Today could be the day. By Home Depot, how doers get more done? By Mercedes-Benz, the best of nothing and by Truist, committed to a better future. Welcome back to Rise Up Tonight. Let's head in the Nests with Kelly Tory and this week's special guest brought to you by Mercedes-Benz. Well, in the Nests with us this week is someone who really needs no introduction. Mr. Roddy White, obviously a Falcons Ring of Honor member. All of that rivalry week. We know that you love that plan against the Saints. I mean, what's kind of your favorite memory when you think back to that? Oh man, so many of them, so many of them. All of our guys were pretty much close and really, really good. So a lot of times we were literally needing wins to get into the playoffs and we ended up winning those guys. But my most memorable moment was probably 2013 or I think it was 2012. We went down there. It was the first game in the season as the opener and we went down there and whooped them. And it just started our season off right. We went like 13 and three that year. So, and ended up winning the MSU championship game. So that was a good year for us. But we started off really, really well by going down there and shutting everybody up in New Orleans. So that was fun. Now the Saints are coming to Atlanta for the opener but for you long illustrious career that you had, do you have a favorite play from your time as a Falcons? I'm genuinely just curious about that. I don't have a favorite play. I mean, it was so many of them that I felt like I had that made a difference in certain games. But most of the times when we did a bad play and I made a play to get us the ball back, that was probably one of my favorite. That was it. But stripping the guys from San Francisco and then getting the ball back and then having a two minute drive to go back and win the game and still executing. That was special for me. I'm curious what your thoughts are on this team and maybe who you're most excited to see once kickoff happens on Sunday. I mean, I'm just most excited to see what we have. As far as we came, you know, from all season acquisitions, I want to see AJ. I mean, he's one of our best cover guys and he's all pro. I think he's going to be special this year. You know, Kyle is going to be Kyle. I'm expecting really, really great things out of him to break the tie there and receive a record touchdowns and all that stuff. Ball's caught in the season. I think he can have that type of year. You know, I challenge him to get 1600 yards. I mean, it's just a small feat. I think he's that special of a guy. You know, as far as Marcus is, man, I think he's coming in. He's going to do well for our team. He's just from a leadership standpoint, getting the young guys, you know, going and then we just got to get Drake healthy and give him an opportunity to get out there, you know, get his feet wet and just continue to grow each and every game, each and every week and just, you know, watch him. I think the old line is going to be much better. They're healthy this year. And, you know, it's a great start when you got five guys that you can take out there that's going to start the season. That's going to be really healthy. I'm glad that you actually brought up Drake London because there was a picture that I believe was circling around around the time of training camp. And it was you and Drake kind of standing side by side. Yes. And it was everybody was talking on Twitter. It's like, is Drake that big? Like, what are we doing here? Like, Roddy's Roddy. He isn't big. I mean, he's a big kid, man. I mean, I love him, man. You know, he's going to have an opportunity to be great, you know, in this league. He runs me so much of Mike Evans and the things that he can do on the field and what I've watched from him on a tape standpoint. I mean, if we can get that type of production from Drake, I mean, that's Hall of Fame level, you know, type of stats and things like that that Mike Evans can do. I see him in that same, you know, realm, you know, he could still run, but he's big, fast, strong enough to get in and out of breaks and things like that. He's a special kid, man. He's going to have an opportunity to do a lot of great things for us. It's funny you say Mike Evans because Brian Edwards, I remember during training camp said he literally reminds him of a bigger Mike Evans. So that's an interesting comp that you said it to. I'm interested in what your thoughts are on Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ritter. I mean, obviously we know Marcus is going to be the starter week one, but what are your thoughts on those two guys? I thought it was a great way to focus and handle it. You know, bringing Desmond and what drafting him was a great thing. And then bringing in Marcus is great because they still have the same skill set. You know, when quarterbacks have the same skill set, you don't have to change the offense. Everything's predicated and dictated on what both guys can do. So it's not a lot of transition and it's not a lot of turnover. So that's a great thing that they did, man. I'm super excited for both of those guys. But it'll be a great opportunity for Ritter to just learn from a guy that's been in the league for a long time and have success, you know, won some games in this league and has put up really decent and really nice stats throughout his career, you know, as a starter in this league. So it'll be great for him to have a better understanding and see what he can do, you know, throughout games and see the mental reps and things that he can get, you know, from game to game. And that's special, man. Anytime you have two guys like that that just have such similar skill set, and you don't have to change things. I mean, that is night and day in the NFL. There are a lot of outside expectations about what this Falcons team is in 2022. There are a lot of guys on one-year deals, a lot of things in transition. When you look at this Falcons team, what kind of expectations do you have for them in 2022? I just want us to come each and every Sunday and play as hard as we possibly can. And the young guys just learn. I mean, we have a really young team. We're going to have some growing pains, you know, and Art's going to do his thing. I mean, he's done well. I mean, with the team last year, I didn't think we would win seven games, but... I don't think many people did. So, you know, I'm not doubting anything he could do at this point. A couple years in a retirement, for you, what's kind of next? Are you enjoying not playing football and seeing so far? I mean, I'm enjoying watching, you know, some Sundays I get an itch, you know, especially when my birds aren't doing too well. I'm like, you know, maybe I can put all the pads, but, you know, I'm coaching high school football. You know, my son is a junior in high school, so I'm enjoying that, man, you know, getting to work hands-on with him and just give him everything that I have from a knowledge standpoint from the position and just watching him go out there and have success. When you pull up to the high school game where people are like, oh, my God, that's Roddy White. I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, they are like that. You know, I'm all locked in trying to get focused for the game, trying to help our team win. But at the same time, yeah, people are like that. They're like, oh, I didn't know you'd coach it. And then, you know, they're asking me questions and stuff like that. And I try to ask a question before the game or whatever the case may be. But once the kickoff starts, I'm all in. There's only so many selfies you can take. All right, let's relax, everyone. Awesome. Well, thanks so much for the time. We really appreciate it. Anyone who wants to catch the full conversation, we'll be right back on Rise Up Tonight. We're not going to get to hear about some hypothetical. That's not what our focus is right now. Our focus is on the New Orleans Saints. So if you want to, you know, hang out with the bots on Twitter and social media and get all these hypothetical GM scenarios or great team building, some of these other assinine, you know, narratives, go ahead, but we're focused on the New Orleans Saints. This is painful, guys. It's absolutely, this is brutal. This is brutal. You can get on a podcast. You can get online. You can argue with the clouds. You can argue with the Russian bots. Don't care, guys. We're trying to prepare a game to go win a football game. When I tell you I was crying real tears watching this press conference on Monday, he called it brutal. He called it better than a Netflix comedy special. This was when he said, guys, this is brutal. Like this is Arthur Smith in his prime. If anyone ever wants to know what Arthur Smith is like, I'm honestly just going to send him that press conference and say, this is it. Take it or leave it. And for a guy who is against all the bots and stuff, he knows a lot about those. He knows a lot about those. A guy who says he's not on social media. I don't know, Arthur. We'll see. All right. Well, we're going to head into our hot takes. Of course, Arthur Smith's favorite segment of our show. This week is that Kyle Pitts will score his very first touchdown on US soil. Yes, he had one last season. But if y'all remember, it was in London. When is a better time to get the ball to the unicorn in the end zone than against the Saints? And we know he has jacked up about this rivalry game after hearing from him in open locker room this week. Nobody is more ready to play this game than number eight. Also, I would also like to go on the record to say that some people will argue that he actually scored a touchdown in the pro ball and that was his touchdown on US soil. No, that does not count. That's not it. But Kelly, I'm actually going to go back to through the memory bank to something that you talked about our very first show a couple of weeks ago. My hot take this week, the Falcons will sack James Winston not once, but twice on Sunday. And look, for some teams, this isn't a hot take, but for this team, it is. And I would really like to see some creative Blitzes drawn up. Cue that up on Sunday. Put this Falcons defense. Attacking James Winston opposing quarterbacks. All of those things. I want to see them get after him. Let's see this defense in front legally rough. James Winston up a little bit. It's a rivalry game after all. Yes, lots of competitive juices flowing, but keep it within the plays, guys. All right. Well, six of the Falcons, seven wins last season, came outside of Mercedes-Benz stadium, one of them also in London as we talked about. In fact, the home crowd did not see a W until week 16 in Atlanta. You and I were both at practice this week at the Benz Tour and we heard a lot about how making home feel like home again is a big emphasis for Arthur Smith and company as they kick it off. You're exactly right. He did. He talked exactly about that. He said, we want to make playing at home something special, not only for our team, but for our fans. This is important for this team to get some wins at home. Absolutely. And as he pointed out, they might have been in the conversation a little bit later in the season, had they won a couple more games early on at home. Well, thanks for staying up late with us here on Rise Up Tonight for Tori McElhaney. I'm Kelly Price. We'll see you again right back here next Friday night. Good night.