Atlanta Falcons

Ever since that wild night on the eve of last January's Super Bowl, when Eugene Robinson got picked up on Miami's Biscayne Boulevard and became a national joke, the Falcons' free safety has been everyone's favorite bull's-eye. After a sleepless night following his arrest for soliciting an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute, Robinson went out and got torched by John Elway and the Broncos. When the team returned to Atlanta for a we-still-love-you parade, Robinson stared at the crowd and saw signs mocking his Miami misadventure. He got lit up in public and on late-night talk shows, and some of his teammates worried that the 36-year-old locker room leader would lose his job. That didn't happen, but only because Robinson, whose charges were dropped after he completed a court-mandated diversion program, agreed to take a pay cut (from $1.8 million to $1 million) and faithfully participate in the team's voluntary workout program.

Now, after an off-season in which he and his teammates were often depicted as one-hit wonders, Robinson finally gets to start hitting back. "I've been out of the nightmare zone for some time, and now my focus is so keen, I really can't wait for the season to start," he says. "There'll be a ton of pressure on the secondary, but that's O.K. I'm ready to go out there and rock."

No jokes, please—Robinson has heard them all and even laughed at the funnier ones. But he's serious about disproving a perception that gained widespread popularity after the Super Bowl: that Elway and Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, in exploiting the Atlanta secondary for 336 passing yards, exposed a glaring weakness in the Falcons' defense. "People seem to think we skated by last year, that the secondary wasn't really that good," Robinson says. "I think this team earned a lot of respect last year, but now we're being asked to do it again."

If Atlanta is to avoid becoming the latest in a series of upstart clubs (San Diego, Indianapolis, Carolina) whose sudden rise to prominence was followed by a rapid crash, the Falcons will have to overcome a choppy off-season that included the release of two key veteran starters, wideout Tony Martin (indicted on federal money-laundering and conspiracy charges; through Sunday his trial was ongoing) and linebacker Cornelius Bennett (to make way for a younger player); a highly publicized draft-day conversation with the Patriots in which coach Dan Reeves dangled star halfback Jamal Anderson as trade bait; and a contentious contract dispute that kept Anderson out of training camp until Aug. 12. "You hate to see a guy who's the heart of this football team treated like that, but it's a business," says All-Pro cornerback Ray Buchanan.

Anderson will again carry the load, but Buchanan and his fellow defensive backs have their own burden. "I'm going to put it on the secondary," Buchanan says. "We're the ones who have to step up and erase the memory of the Super Bowl."

Was the Falcons' Super Bowl funk a product of Robinson's lack of focus—or, for that matter, lack of sleep? "We'll never really know," says Reeves, "but you're always going to have that thought: Was his mind clear?" Robinson, known for his smart and steady play, seemed to be in a daze at times, getting over too late to stop Elway's 80-yard touchdown pass to Rod Smith in the second quarter and whiffing on an attempted sideline tackle of Terrell Davis on a 39-yard catch and run late in the game. "Actually, if anything, I was too pumped up for that game, because I felt I had so much to prove," Robinson says.

Now Robinson, who says he expects this to be his last season, has a chance to go out with a bang. The Falcons added punch to the secondary by signing free agent Marty Carter, 29, the former Bears strong safety who specializes in throwing his 6'1", 210-pound body into anyone wearing an opposing jersey. "I'm here for the garbage jobs, the kamikaze missions: taking on fullbacks, linemen, tight ends, whomever," he says. Robinson calls Carter "smart and instinctive, a guy who'll knock a hole in your body" He'll be tested from the get-go. The Falcons open at home against the pass-happy Vikings in an NFC Championship Game rematch. To defend its first NFC West title since 1980, Atlanta will have to hold off the 49ers—winners of 13 division crowns during that same stretch—and their talented trio of receivers.

"A lot of people say we're headed for a fall, but those people don't play football," Robinson says. "Don't go to sleep on us, because you might get embarrassed."

The man has become quite an expert on the subject.

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]