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Ward and Mathis have long memories

By Jim Wexell For The 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – The Atlanta Falcons have the quarterback, no question. That quarterback was asked Wednesday by Pittsburgh reporters if he’s hoping his team drafts a receiver in the first round of the next draft. “Yes,” Michael Vick said. “Definitely.”

The quote only summed up what scouts already know: The Falcons need receivers.

Too bad, say a pair of receivers the Falcons will have to stop Sunday at Heinz Field.

“They had one,” said Terance Mathis.

“They could’ve had one,” said Hines Ward.

Both Steelers receivers have been slighted by the Falcons at one time or another in their careers, and both have long memories.

Mathis, who played eight seasons with the Falcons and caught a franchise-record 573 passes, was released for salary-cap purposes after catching 51 passes last season.

Falcons coach Dan Reeves said Wednesday that “Terance Mathis should have been able to finish his career with the Atlanta Falcons,” but Mathis wasn’t in a forgiving mood.

“He’s probably sitting over there wondering what I’m telling these guys over here. I know that offense pretty well,” Mathis said with a laugh. “I just want to go out there and beat these guys with whatever it takes, a last-second field goal, blowout; I just want to win this game, not only for me but for this organization to get to where we need to be going right now.”

As the Steelers’ fourth receiver, Mathis has 12 catches but is considered more valuable as an insurance policy against an injury to, say, Ward.

A Pro Bowl receiver last season, Ward has 55 receptions through the first half of this season, putting him on pace to catch 110 passes and break his own team single-season reception record of 94 set last season.

Of course, Ward wouldn’t own that record if he’d been drafted by his favorite team coming out of the University of Georgia in 1998.

“I thought I was going to end up getting drafted by them, but they took Jammi German two picks before the Steelers had their pick,” said Ward, a native of Forest Park, Ga., about 20 miles south of Atlanta.

“I used to go to Fulton County Stadium when tickets were five dollars when Deion Sanders was there. I used to love when they had the red helmets when I was little. I grew up a big fan.”

Ward was a bona fide star at Georgia, and the Falcons needed a receiver at the time, but they never gave Ward an indication that they were interested.

“I just thought it would be a good fit,” he said. “They just got Keith Brooking from (Georgia) Tech. Being that I was from Georgia, I automatically assumed I would play for the Falcons. They were looking for a receiver. Than they picked German and I don’t think he’s even in the league anymore.”

He’s not. In four years with the Falcons and Cleveland Browns, German caught only 20 passes before moving on to his life’s work.

The Falcons’ current starting receivers have combined for 41 of the team’s 132 receptions and have only three of the Falcons’ five touchdown catches.

NFL Europe find Brian Finneran, a 6-feet-5 possession receiver, leads the team with 29 catches. The Falcons’ other starting receiver, 12th-year veteran Shawn Jefferson, has 12 catches.

The Falcons’ receiving corps in general has been criticized for poor route adjustments, which is one of the reasons Falcons quarterbacks are sacked once every 10.8 pass plays, placing them 31st in the league in that category.

Reeves was pressed Wednesday by Atlanta reporters, who’d just learned of Ward’s childhood dream.

“You can look at any draft choice … apparently at the time we thought that was a better decision for us,” Reeves told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“To be honest, I don’t remember. If I had known that Hines Ward was going to be the kind of player he is, I guarantee you we’d have him.”

They could’ve had him. And they had the other one. Not that Vick needs much help, but the Steelers are thankful the Falcons passed on both.

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