FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Arthur Blank looked at the sign on
the wall, the one that Bobby Petrino put up in the team meeting
room after he was hired to coach the Atlanta Falcons.
It lists the traits Petrino wanted out of his players, wrapping
up with a most telling word:
Finish.
"I don't think quitting after 13 games is equal to the word
'Finish," Blank said, not even bothering to hide his sarcasm.
The owner of the Falcons wasn't the only one who felt betrayed
after Petrino skipped town with three games left in his first
season as an NFL head coach.
The guys who were playing for Petrino less than 48 hours earlier
arrived at the Falcons' suburban training complex Wednesday to find
an 86-word farewell from their ex-leader, who bailed on a 3-10
season to take the coaching job at Arkansas.
That was it. No face-to-face meeting. No phone calls. Just a
short letter that had all the warmth of a credit-card solicitation.
"I feel like I've been sleeping with the enemy," safety Lawyer
Milloy griped.
The Falcons watched Petrino on television the previous day,
yukking it up at a giddy, late-night news conference in Arkansas,
then unloaded on him for the way he abandoned the team. Words like
"quitter" and "coward" flowed easily off everyone's lips, from
outspoken players such as DeAngelo Hall to the mild-mannered ones
like Warrick Dunn.
While the aloof Petrino made few friends in the locker room --
and there was actually a sense of relief he was gone -- no one
expected him to leave before the season was done. All he left
behind was that letter.
"Atlanta Falcons Players," it began.
"Out of my respect for you, I am letting you know that, with a
heavy heart, I resigned today as the Head Coach of the Atlanta
Falcons. This decision was not easy but was made in the best
interest of me and my family. While my desire would have been to
finish out what has been a difficult season for us all,
circumstances did not allow me to do so. I appreciate your hard
work and wish you the best.
"Sincerely, Bobby Petrino."
Blank sounded as though he had just been stabbed in the back. He
got a call late last week from Dallas owner Jerry Jones, an
Arkansas alumnus, to say the school was interested in talking to
Petrino about its coaching vacancy.
Blank said he told Jones the Falcons had no intention of letting
the Razorbacks speak with their coach, and general manager Rich
McKay confirmed that position in his own talks with Jones.
That was followed by a series of meetings over the weekend in
which Petrino laid out some areas of concern, and the Falcons
thought they had addressed them all. In fact, Blank said he met
again with the coach on Monday, just hours before Atlanta's 34-14
loss to the New Orleans Saints, to make sure he wasn't planning to
leave.
"He stood up, we shook hands and he said, 'You have a head
coach," Blank said.
Twenty-four hours later, Petrino submitted his resignation,
hopped on a plane to Arkansas and signed a deal as Razorbacks coach
for less money than his five-year, $24 million deal with the
Falcons.
"The best way to describe the way we feel," Blank said, "is
betrayed."
The Falcons hastily chose secondary coach Emmitt Thomas to run
the team on an interim basis for the final three games; he becomes
the first black head coach in team history.
Blank said he has no reason to believe that Jones was involved
in Petrino's sudden resignation, and McKay said NFL tampering rules
don't apply to college jobs anyway.
During his final days with the Falcons, Petrino expressed to
both Blank and McKay his concerns about dealing with pro athletes.
There were plenty of warning signs he wasn't coping well with
players who weren't afraid to speak their minds or question the
coaching staff.
"This league is not for everybody," Milloy said. "This league
is for real men. I think he realized he didn't belong here."
A couple of Pro Bowlers, Hall and Alge Crumpler, had openly
criticized Petrino's domineering tactics before he left. Plenty of
others expressed their frustration in private.
Dunn said Petrino's rules ranged from a ban on televisions in
the locker room at the team's training complex to frowning on any
loud talking at team dinners when the Falcons were on the road.
"It got to the point where I never went down to team dinners to
eat because I was not going to sit there in silence," said Dunn, a
32-year-old, 11-year veteran. "You tell kindergartners things like
that."
Around the league, others took note of Petrino's shocking
departure.
"It just shows his true color, like a coward with a yellow
stripe down his back," said defensive tackle Grady Jackson, who
was cut by Petrino during the bye week and now plays with the
Jacksonville Jaguars.
"He snuck out in the middle of the night like the Baltimore
Colts did," said Kansas City Chiefs running back Kolby Smith, who
played for Petrino at Louisville.
Even some of Petrino's fellow coaches were dismayed by his
tactics.
"I'm always very disappointed when things like this happen,"
Baltimore's Brian Billick said. "This profession needs to handle
itself better at times."
The Falcons were particularly upset about Petrino's jovial
demeanor at his first news conference in Arkansas, where he even
participated in the school's "calling the hogs" cheer. It was the
first time any of the players could remember him smiling.
"The slap in the face was ultimately when he showed up at a 11
o'clock, or whatever time it was in Arkansas, doing the 'pig sooey'
hog call," Milloy said. "It seemed like was right in rhythm with
the beat. He had been practicing."
As for Petrino's letter, Milloy had a copy of it taped above his
locker, with a red "X" through Petrino's words and the player's
own assessment written in: "Coward." Center Todd McClure didn't
even bother keeping his.
"I think it's already in the trash," he said bitterly.
Defensive end Jamaal Anderson, the Falcons' first-round pick
from Arkansas, was asked what he would tell his alma mater about
its new coach.
"One word: Disloyal," Anderson replied.
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Associated Press Writer George Henry in Flowery Branch; Mark
Long in Jacksonville, Fla.; Steven Wine in Miami; and Doug Tucker
in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.