Atlanta Falcons to Induct John Abraham and Bill Fralic into Ring of Honor

Staff Reports

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – The Atlanta Falcons today announced John Abraham and Bill Fralic will become the 15th and 16th members of the club’s Ring of Honor. Abraham will be honored during the Falcons Week 5 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Fralic will be inducted when Atlanta hosts Tampa Bay in Week 16.

Abraham spent seven seasons in Atlanta and was a critical member of the teams that defined an era for the franchise. He spent the first six years of his career in New York after being selected by the New York Jets with the 13th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. During that time, Abraham established himself as one of the league’s top pass rushers, totaling 53.5 sacks in 73 games. When the Jets used the Franchise Tag on him following the 2005 season, Atlanta came calling.

At the time, ESPN’s Len Pasquarelli reported the Falcons — led by current CEO of AMBSE Rich McKay — so coveted Abraham they employed the rarely used three-team trade to bring him to Atlanta. That trade would prove wise, as he would go on to help the Falcons reach the postseason in 2008 and secure three straight postseason bids for the first time in team history (2010-2012), as well as a second NFC Championship Game appearance. The Predator — a nickname he earned for his relentless pursuit of opposing quarterbacks — tallied 68.5 sacks in 102 games as a Falcon, the fourth most by any player over that seven-year span.

Pro Football Hall of Famer and his soon-to-be fellow Ring of Honor member, Claude Humphrey, is recognized as the team’s all-time leader with 99.5 sacks. However, Humphrey played his entire career before sacks became an official statistic in 1982, which gives Abraham the honor of being the team’s official sack leader in the NFL record books. Abraham didn’t only hunt quarterbacks. He also preyed on the ball.

During his tenure with the Falcons, the Timmonsville, S.C., native forced 25 fumbles. According to Tru Media, 19 of those forced fumbles were strip sacks, tied for the fourth most by any player during that span. Abraham had three such plays that resulted in defensive touchdowns, tying Elvis Dumervil, Dwight Freeney and Osi Umenyiora for the league lead. Since 2000, his 115 quarterback hits rank second in club annals behind Grady Jarrett (126), and while he played during the nascent days of analytical tools like Pro Football Focus, he totaled 412 pressures, accounting for all sacks, hits and hurries.

Over seven seasons in Atlanta, Abraham posted double-digit sacks four times and was a two-time All-Pro — a first-team selection in 2010 and second-team pick in 2008 — he also earned Pro Bowl honors in 2010. Abraham finished his career as one of the best pass rushers of his generation, with 133.5 sacks, which ranks 14th in NFL history. Overall, he boasted three All-Pro selections and five trips to the Pro Bowl in a career that spanned 15 seasons.

Abraham helped usher in an unprecedented run of success for the Falcons, with the team reaching the postseason in four of his final five seasons, and he made his mark as one of the dominant pass rushers of his era.

Bill Fralic played an unheralded position for an unheralded team, appearing in just one postseason game during his tenure, but he created an archetype for his position through the tenacity and toughness he displayed.

Fralic came to Atlanta as the No. 2 overall pick of the 1985 NFL Draft after leaving an indelible mark at the University of Pittsburgh. He was a three-time All-American and the first offensive lineman to boast two top 10 finishes in Heisman Trophy voting, whose proclivity for putting defenders on their backs inspired the staff at Pittsburgh to create the “pancake block.”

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound lineman lived up to his lofty billing and made an immediate and lasting impact both on and off the field during his career. As a rookie, Fralic started 14 of the 15 games he played in and finished third in the Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year voting. He would follow that with three-straight All-Pro selections — first team in 1986 and 1987 and second team in 1988 — and four consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl.

In total, Fralic spent eight of his nine NFL seasons in Atlanta and started 115 of the 116 games in which he played. Fralic was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-1980s team honoring the best players of the decade. While Fralic’s imposing stature and mean streak were well known in the NFL, he also caught the eye of the WWE, participating in a 20-man Battle Royal at WrestleMania 2 in 1986.

Unable to surmount Andre the Giant in the ring, Fralic would take on another battle off the field during his playing career, fighting against the use of steroids in the NFL. In 1989, he went before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the subject and supported a bipartisan bill to designate steroids as a controlled substance.

Fralic moved from the field to the broadcast booth after his career, serving as the Falcons radio analyst from 1995 to 1997 and later in the same role at his alma mater from 2004 to 2010. Sadly, he passed away in December 2018 at the age of 56 after battling cancer. His inclusion in the Falcons Ring of Honor is a fitting tribute for a player synonymous with the decade he played in and the team he played for.