In My Mind

I took a break from Twitter last week because somebody I know thought it would be funny to drop Black Widow spoilers. During that week, I felt mentally a bit more free than usual. Was even more productive in simple things like Call of Duty. It seemed to have brought me more joy. I ended my Twitter break yesterday and tweeted about how I enjoyed Black Widow and the first thing somebody tweeted was “You actually paid thirty dollars? Not me!” Good for you I guess. Some people just wish to be negative and I honestly don’t have time for that shit anymore. I’m not afraid to leave you where you stand over that.

For those that don’t know me, I am a diehard Atlanta Falcons fan. I’ve been a fan since 2001, which not only happens to have been my first live NFL game, but it was Michael Vick’s rookie year. It was that day that the hometown hero made me become a Falcons fan.

Fast forward a couple of years to 2008, when Matt Ryan was drafted. Matt Ryan immediately became the leader of the team from then to this very day. Two years later in the 2010 NFL draft, the Falcons make a blockbuster trade to acquire the one, the only, Julio Jones.

Julio Jones is a freak of nature. 6′3, 220 lbs at wide receiver who runs a 4.39 in his 40 time. It was that very moment that Matt Ryan and Julio Jones started to shred defenses for many years to come.

This year, the Atlanta Falcons hired Arthur Smith as the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. This was a young coach who was known as one of the best offensive minds in the game. I immediately started to think about all of the ways that Arthur Smith would use Julio Jones...until this past week.

On Monday, May 24th, the NFL world learned that Julio Jones requested a trade from the Atlanta Falcons in March. I went through a range of emotions (men and our sports). From shock, to anger, to sad, to confused, you name it, I felt it. Then came the realization: This is it, it’s over.

I thought Julio Jones would be a Falcon forever. I thought he would play every game in a Falcons uniform until he couldn’t play anymore. The man himself even said he’d be a Falcon forever. What changed?