Apparently, all our forgotten Falcons in 2021 are going to be guys who were strong contributors for four years and then moved on to other teams. That was true of Mike Pitts, who we profiled earlier this week, and it’s true of Bert Emanuel.
Emanuel doesn’t get mentioned among the great receivers the Falcons have ever had, which is understandable when you overlapped with Andre Rison and Terance Mathis and you never reached the heights of a Roddy White, Alfred Jenkins, or Julio Jones. While Calvin Ridley and eventually Kyle Pitts seem sure to pass him, Emanuel’s brief peak leaves him 11th all-time in franchise history for receiving yards, 12th for receptions and 12th for touchdowns, the product of being a top option in an extremely pass-happy offense for four straight seasons.