 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. There are a few feelings as depressing as taking down the Christmas tree, those post-holiday doldrums, but even worse, Tori, the last game of the 2022 Falcon season is coming up. Where did all the time go? I truly have no idea, and, I mean, thank you all for hanging with us through all of our hot takes, our Cheetah Girl references, and just our general love for Tyler Algier. But don't worry, we're not done yet. Yes, one more episode coming at you here. But you know, I am feeling really good about where this team is at. Yeah, we won't be seeing them in the playoffs this year, but the progress we've been seeing, I think, has me feeling really positive, and you should be feeling the same way. And a win is a win is a win, so let's huddle up about it. So it's just under five minutes to play. The Falcons got the ball and needed a textbook game-winning drive. Desmond Ritter led the 12-play 72-yard charge, and as our friend Stefan from SNL would say, this drive had everything. Running, catching, blocking, situational awareness. MTV's Dan Cortez. Hopefully you guys get the reference. But biggest of all, I think was that nobody flinched from Ritter and the backs, the O-line, the receivers. They all just did the dang thing. The little things added up to a big thing here, I think. And Tori, my goodness, I think we finally have seen some of the execution we've been asking for week after week. What we have, and something that shouldn't go unnoticed, is Ritter's role in that drive. He only threw the ball three times, but connected on all three of those throws with a very important one coming on third and long. And that's the thing about this offense. Arthur Smith isn't asking his quarterbacks to go out there and throw it eight or nine times in a drive, or 45 times in a game, unless of course the game absolutely calls for that. The run game can carry a significant load, and for how productive it's been, it should. Ritter's role in it should look how it did in that drive, which is to do enough to keep the chains moving. Exactly. Another major play that led to a touchdown on Sunday was Richie Grant's blocked punt. The Falcons are tied with the Vikings and Jets for the NFL lead with two blocked punts on the season. From the history-making CP kickoff return against the Bears, to even last week, Adé O'Gendéji blocking a field goal attempt, this unit has really been putting the special in special teams. Not to mention, Young Wai-Ku nailed his sixth career game winner to seal this one for the Falcons, and he's only missed five of 34 field goal attempts all year, with four of those coming from over 50 yards out. Yeah, you're really seeing a buy-in from this team in regards to special teams, and I think it's partially because of the nature of this team this year. We've talked at length about how many of these players are on short-term deals or are in the early days of their rookie contracts. They're all trying to make a good impression, and a lot of that can come in these special teams' moment. Hey, CP made a career out of his special team's prowess, so I think you can feel that special teams is something that this team particularly cares about a lot. That's a really, really good point. Well, I know there was a lot of social media chatter about winning a, quote, meaningless game when the Falcons could tank for a higher draft pick, but let's be real, the guys on this roster could not care less about that. They want to win, and the Falcons finally snapped that four-game losing streak, which last time I checked, winning is kind of why you play a football game. You're absolutely right. No coach on this staff, no player in this locker room is ever going to admit out loud that, yeah, they want to lose so they can get a higher draft pick. Why? Because they're worried about their careers and their features as well as they should be. So sure, you can be mad the Falcons lost as a fan, but the men who are actually playing and coaching this game, they're not. And do not tell Grady Jarrett you want him to lose. After what happened in Tampa Bay earlier in the year, I wouldn't be surprised if Grady Jarrett will be ready to run through a brick wall on Sunday to get a win versus Tom Brady. Absolutely. Well, this weekend we saw a win for Georgia Bulldogs and a win for the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium within about 15 hours of each other. And of course, there were wins with the pre-game fits. We're walking in presented by Wells Fargo. That being said, got to start with the big dog, Lorenzo Carter. He has incorporated his alma mater into a few fits this season, but I think this one's my favorite. I'm really partial to awesome jackets, especially letterman jackets, and maybe he'll even be able to rock it with some more pride after the dogs maybe go back to back on Monday night. Oh, you already know as a fellow dog myself that I love this fit. And look, I'm wearing the red and black as well. And you're right, that Lorenzo has been supporting his dogs all year. You remember that awesome suit that he wore earlier this year? Yeah. Had the Georgia and the Falcons logo stitched up on the inside. Love that, too. Yeah, I think he's worn that twice. It's worked out for the dogs so far. One of my favorite parts to see in these walk-in in paparazzi pics is like the guy's poses and reaction seepy here. Reminds me of a kid who's kind of standing there for his school picture. Really, really nice, so pure. Similarly, I think the bright primary colors in his outfit are serving a fun, bright Crayola Crams vibe in the best way. And I don't know if you all caught this, but I have to say that even seepy shoe laces match the fit. One is yellow and one is green. So, man, we do love the commitment here. The attention to detail. And Cordero, and Cordero is always a good thing. Major props to wide receiver Josh Ali, who's really taking us all back with the trashers jersey. Look at that. My man, he's from Miami and he went to Kentucky, so not really sure what he knows about them. Not really sure what he knows about the thrashers, but he has put respect on their name. I'm here for also here from Bucket Hat during any season. And I'll say this, this brought me back. I have a January birthday, so a lot of my trips to the A growing up included taking in a thrashers game. And so, honestly, I respect the heck out of this bit. Love that. Finally, AJ Terrell with some easy Sunday morning vibes, or maybe he's got plans to go bowling. I'm not sure. That's kind of what the shirt's giving me here. I was going to say bowling or like mechanic sheet. Either way, I like it. Also, maybe a closeted dog supporter with the red and black. I mean, just saying. Not the mechanic sheet. You know, we all have things that grind our gears. And with this being our season finale, we had to save the best for last. The Falcons tell us about their pet peeves in tonight's question of the week. My biggest pet peeves. Ooh, I just say something about being late. Pet peeves is slow movers and complain. I don't know. People chewing with their mouth open? Yeah. That's probably the biggest thing. Smacking while you're eating? Yeah. You gotta close your mouth and have some manners. When I say bless you, and people are not saying thank you. Bless you. I want to say it's a pet. Yeah, it's like... I say bless you. It's like, not something you want in return, but it's just like, it's courteous. Like, just like me opening the door. Opening the door. That's probably a big order. When we open the door and people just walk in. I'm a big, not taking food off my plate without consent, so people come over and steal a fry or something like that. I always used to drive me nuts. Ooh, is that something your fiancé is guilty of a lot? No, she's a big sip of the drink before I could even do it. And I was like, why didn't you just order it? I didn't want to. When people say salmon with the L, salmon... They kind of bought it. They kind of bought it. That happened yesterday, actually. I don't recall exactly who it was, and I've heard it a couple times from the past few days. Avery's is so specific that you know he's been like holding onto that for a while. And they must have been serving salmon in the calf that day for it to come up. Because otherwise, when does salmon just come up in regular day conversations? I guess a lot, if you're Avery Williams. Also, for those of you who've been questioning our Tyler, Elger, fandom, the fact that his pet peeve is about politeness just says everything you need to know about that kid. That's some good stuff there. Well, still to come, the Falcons fan of the year pulls up to the show. Tom Dunn, the creator of The Fambulance you may have seen at a Falcons tailgate near you, has an inspirational story of fandom you don't want to miss. And a local high school football coach receives some top honors after overcoming a major health battle. This 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. This week, the Atlanta Falcons named Appalachee High School head coach Tony Lottie, its coach of the year. This Sunday, he'll be an honorary captain for the team, but he's been captaining his own team through a challenging season of life. Time now to Rise Up for Atlanta, brought to you by Truist. Last season, Appalachee High in Winder won five of its final six games to reach the postseason for the first time in 12 years and Lottie was named Region 8 5A Coach of the Year. That following spring, Lottie suffered from fatigue and headaches. Doctors later told him he had a brain tumor. After getting the news, Coach Lottie received brain surgery and he held onto a Bible verse that he preaches what he tries to show on the field. A good, bad, indifferent season. It ends. And so, sitting here in the dark, the trip's back and forth to North Carolina. It's like when I teach the kids, play the next play, okay? I'm now physically having to demonstrate what that core value that I try to represent means. Congrats to Coach Lottie for now being tumor free and being named the Atlanta Falcons Coach of the Year. So, one of the most interesting developments in the second half of the season has been the emergence of Tyler L. Geer, which, as presidents of the number 25 fan club, we've discussed a lot on Rise Up Tonight as our loyal viewers know. Yes. But something we've been watching and something you've actually wrote about in your notebook this week was the co-emergence of Cordero's many other uses in this offense. Al Geer establishing himself as RB1 means CP could be just about anything, which really opens up this offense. Yeah, I'm so glad that you brought this up because when you really look at it, this is something that, as the year has progressed, we haven't really talked a lot about. Yes, we've discussed Tyler Al Geer, but his emergence as you're featured back is good news for Cordero Patterson. It allows you to use CP in many ways and we actively saw that on Sunday work to the Falcons advantage. You saw CP in the backfield. You saw Al Geer and CP out there together. You saw CP lining up out wide or in the slot. The more mystery that surrounds CP, the better. And that mystery has been re-infused back into this offense because you can really rely on Tyler Al Geer to consistently produce those tough yards carrying the rock. I'll say this too. I think this duo is going to be even more fun to watch next year. This is what we keep talking about. Lots of things to be positive going into the next season. Well, some of y'all just want to stay mad anyways and that's on you at this point. I'll explain more during hot takes to end the show. Plus, we go in the nest with the Falcons fan of the year. That is coming up next. We're here with Tom Dunn, who is the Falcons fan of the year. Congratulations on that. What does this honor kind of mean to you and how did you find out that you won? Well, it was actually at the tailgate at the Chargers game. Several of the Falcons representatives and Keeman Forney who played for the Falcons for several years came up and kind of pulled it out of nowhere. Big shock. People asked me, well, how do you react? Well, honestly, it didn't hit me right off. I mean, I knew what they were saying and all, but things were always so hectic at the tailgates and so much going on that it really took a while for it to sink in, you know, after a head time to sit down and think about it. But it's great. I'm really honored. Couldn't be happier, although I have to be honest. I have to share it with our crew because we have the core of our group has been together for many, many years and they play a big part in it too and they by all rights should be on here with me. But I guess you can't have 40 people, you know. It would be fun if you could. Now, I congrats from Kelly and I both, but can you kind of tell us a little bit about the story of the fanbulence? Can you kind of explain that to all of us? Well, the fanbulence actually came about at one point we had high school games on Friday night. Our son was on the football team down here at UCF and then the Falcons on Sunday and I wanted some way that I could just sort of pack everything at the beginning of the year and be done with it to the end of the season other than just food and beverage and all like that. So it started out as a trailer that had custom made a guy who builds trailers for custom car owners where they chop and channel the roof and lose all their baggage capacity saw his work at a car show we kind of designed the trailer together then I got the idea I wanted to do a hearse and I have quite a collection of helmets in jerseys and my original vision would be a hearse and you'd roll it out at the tailgate a coffin, flip up one end and it would have a mannequin wearing the helmet in the jersey of the opposing team but my wife who normally humors me said she would only be taking one ride in a hearse and it would not be to a football game so then we moved up to an ambulance which turned out to be a better choice we bought a retired ambulance and converted it and used it for 10 years or so. It's so funny to have a falcon fan that's really literally been there from the beginning because we have a lot of players and stuff on that we always ask them their favorite memories of wearing a falcon's jersey but you've literally been there for all of this you know, falcon's football era what's maybe your favorite falcon memory or maybe you could pick a couple throughout all those years? Well, my favorite one without a doubt was the NSC championship in Minneapolis right after the 98 season and we were up there with the whole family and of course nobody gave the falcons a chance and the Vikings got up big to start with and I'd say we're literally passing out newspapers in the stands up there that was showing the Vikings on to Miami and then when they were about to kick the field goal that basically would have put the game away they introduced their kicker Gary Anderson as Mr. Perfect and they had never done that before and he hadn't missed a kick all year but my son turns around to me and says we're gonna win this thing and of course he missed it and the fans they didn't even bother to look because he'd been so good just jumping up cheering and not noticing the officials are signaling no good and then of course the falcons came storming back one at an overtime that would probably be number one number two would be the other NSC championship that we won after 2016 down here the last game in the dome you know and that was the total opposite you know that was never even a game and seeing Aaron Rodgers get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for crying on the sidelines that was probably the highlight of that game oh my goodness I think a lot of fans probably agree with you there on that one now just looking at this group right now I know they're out of playoff contention but looking ahead to 2023 there are some good things on the horizon for this organization what are kind of your thoughts about where this organization is heading in the next couple of years and what you think of Arthur Smith and Terry Faunno and what they're trying to build in Atlanta well I'm honestly I'm excited you know the year obviously we'd like to be in the playoffs but it's gone better than I thought would ever happen and I think most of the really serious fans would agree with me that nobody thought we'd be in contention to two weeks from the end of the season Arthur Smith he reminds me if you were going to draw a football coach it would be him you know kind of grumpy and all like that and no offense Arthur but he's gotten a lot out of this team and last year too you know considering the state of the offensive line and all that last year to get seven wins out of that was fabulous and you know most people were predicting the Falcons to be the bottom of the league this year I saw predictions of two wins at the most and all that so it's gone better and you see there's a lot of potential in the team there's clearly room for improvement but with the salary cap this year and a room coming up and all that I'm pretty excited going forward and like I say pleased with what we've done so far alright well thank you so much we really appreciate the time everyone who's you know obviously tailgating at Mercedes-Benz Stadium check out the fanbulence obviously we'll have this full conversation on Fox5Atlanta.com so be sure to check that out and it will be right back Hey Atlanta this is Ed Crack talking and you watching Rise Up Tonight presented by AT&T It's like I don't get caught up in whatever narrative is after four weeks of the daily narratives you can almost write some of these narratives and live and die every week by the narratives because it sets up bad you know narratives you can frame the narrative, you can write narratives those are easy narratives You know I'm honestly going to miss the narrative compilation I'm going to miss that honestly I go to bed thinking about it like I recite it in my sleep haunted by the narrative well it is week 17 so yeah we've recycled a few hot takes a few times because maybe things need to be said more than once and this week as the Falcons stare down the box for their season finale I'm going to go back to a hot take tried and true chill out y'all quit with the tank talk quit with the meaningless games mess like I said at the top of the show last time I checked the whole point of playing football games is to win them I'm looking at your team for winning if you want I'm too tired for negativity honestly at this point in the season but I count game winning drives progress growth all these things we're seeing from Desmond Redder and this promising youth on this team as wins and on top of that they actually won their first game in four weeks as well and winning is what you want is it not it is it really is now for my hot take it's less big picture and more a singular act of revenge I like it I fully believe that Grady Jerry is going on a mission on Sunday a man playing with his hair on fire a heat missile with one target on Sunday Tom Brady we have not talked about Grady Jarrett enough this season we have not given this man the credit that he deserves in the public arena so I want to see him play in a way that people can't help but talk about him as the game progresses if he gets called for another let's say lame roughing faster call against Tom Brady so friggin be it I won't fall Grady Jarrett one bit I'll take those 15 yards gladly Grady Jarrett revenge game I do like that well thanks for staying up late with us here on Rise Up Tonight all season long Tori you've been an amazing close I'm so excited to have you by my side excited to be here we'll have it again next year as well and we'll see what happens this week against the Bucks good night