This Julio Jones kid has some style (Nice bow tie!)
Julio Jones styling and profiling with that sporty bow tie in New York last night. (Stephen Chernin, Associated Press)
FLOWERY BRANCH – Julio Jones was the sharpest player at the NFL draft with that nice bow tie.
Shows that the newest Falcons has some class. (Of course I’m partial to the bow tie look).
Did a little investigative work and discovered that it’s a legit bow tie, too. Not one of those clip-ons you wore to your high school prom.
We’ll be chatting live with Jones today around 5 p.m.
But here are some excerpts from his chat with the media late last night:
ON BEING SELECTED BY THE FALCONS: “I’m really grateful for what they did, to trade up to get me. I really can’t explain it right now. It took me by surprise that they traded up to get me. I feel like they have a lot of trust in me and I am not going to disappoint.”
ON PLAYING WITH RODDY WHITE: “It’s great. I love it, going in and trying to take some of the pressure off of Roddy White. When I went through the interview with Atlanta, they showed me a couple of plays where the safety was rolling over and doubling Roddy White and I want to come in and take some pressure off of him and make those guys play one on one. I’m going to come in there and just try and work.”
ON THE TRADE: “I was very shocked, because I really didn’t have that much contact with them. We just talked briefly. We weren’t talking on the phone. I was very shocked and taken by surprise.”
ON HIS DROPPED PASSES: “I’m not ashamed. I play very hard. If I drop a ball, I drop a ball, but I had to teach myself to slow down. Play fast but don’t hurry. I used to take my eyes off the ball to try and make a play, but I taught myself that later on during the season. You can go back and look at film and you can tell. I would be so excited to make a big play for my teammates.”
ON PLAYING AT THE GEORGIA DOME: “I’m going to love it. I love the atmosphere there. The fans are great. Our fans were coming, but I know we had some Atlanta fans coming there as well. Just the atmosphere and playing under those lights, I love it.”
ON THE TORNADOS IN ALABAMA: “Nobody was injured. I prayed about it. I heard the news yesterday and I started praying about all the people in Tuscaloosa, hoping nobody was injured. Unfortunately, some people were hurt and killed. One of my teammates, Carson Tinker was involved with the tornado. It killed his girlfriend and broke his arm. I’m going to do whatever I can to give back to Tuscaloosa, because they have been there for me since I started at the University of Alabama. I want to give back for the fans.”
ON MATT RYAN: “I feel like this team is perfect for me, with Matt Ryan throwing the ball, everything. I’m so excited and I am grateful that the Atlanta Falcons have seen that I am a hard worker, that I can come in and contribute.”
ON HIS BLOCKING: “I take a lot of pride in that. A lot of pride, because I know that those running backs are blocking for me on pass plays. I just try to give that back to them, go out there and block and try to make a big play for the team. It’s not all about me, it’s about the team. I don’t want to take a play off.”
ON HOW HE PLANNED TO CELEBRATE: (Aside: I thought he should have went with the Far East Movement’s “Like a G6.”)
Poppin bottles in the ice, like a blizzard
When we drink we do it right gettin slizzard
Sippin sizzurp in my ride, like Three 6
Now I’m feelin so fly like a G6
Like a G6, Like a G6
Now I’m feelin so fly like a G6
But here’s what he said: “I have signed with Under Armor and they are throwing us a draft party tonight. At a lounge, that’s where we are going to celebrate tonight with my family and everybody that was part of the draft.”
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121 comments Add your comment
edward jenkins
April 29th, 2011
5:20 pm
great pick by my front office dirty birds, Let’s now concentrate on improving the DEFENSE. I still love our 1st round draft pick. GO FALCONS…… LET”S GO GET THEM. WAY TO GO GUYS…..
great job well done. Let’s go DIRTY BIRDS.
Greg from Marietta
April 29th, 2011
5:55 pm
Now that I’ve heard what TD had to say about his reasoning for trading so many picks for this young man my apprehension has subsided somewhat. Any time you trade away the farm for one man then you have to wonder was that man really worth it. Only time will tell if he is or not but I have faith that the triumvirate of TD, Smitty & Mr. Blank will make the most out of the picks that they have remaining as well as the Free Agent market. Heck, TD has been know to pull a gem or two from those players that nobody else drafted and that is like having free draft choices. So my faith in the Falcons management team and brain trust remains strong and my optimism remains high. Welcome to the team Julio and GO FALCONS! Can’t wait until this strike crap is over and things get back to normal.
SeenThisB4
April 29th, 2011
6:21 pm
@Julio Jones: My sympathies for being drafted by by a team that will never know how to make use of your talents. Sorry man, but somebody has to suit up for these bozos, make sure they pay you dearly for this trespass on your career. At least with this bunch, you won’t need to learn a complicated playbook and hey, you’ll have plenty of free time during the playoffs each year.
bethelboy1955
April 29th, 2011
6:53 pm
get ready for julio jones falcon fans the things he can do on the feild is going to blow your mind. it sounds like to many picks given up by the team,but when jj lines up with white and teams have to cover them both it can not be done. there is no team that can cover both these guys one on one. julio is the type player that doesnt care if he catches a pass a long as the team wins. take it from someone who saw him play high school ball this kid will knock fire from your butt. he was a gunner on punt coverage and use to destroy players. for those of us who saw him play in high school i can tell ya you havent seen nothing yet of julio jones.
FULL SPEED
April 29th, 2011
7:15 pm
MUST HEAR ATLANTA FALCONS FANS!!!! WOW!!!! SOMETHING BIG COMING!!
http://limelinx.com/files/afafb7bc5fef442dc4200a8d1ae6bf9d
hbcuclassics
April 29th, 2011
7:39 pm
UFL Draft – May 2, 2011 @8PM – 10 rds – each pick announced using social media: team facebook pages and twitter accounts.
http://www.hbcuclassics.com
Blackoutanyone?
April 29th, 2011
7:56 pm
The Falcons got the best WR in the draft.. plain and simple. On top of that they got a hard working kid who is selfless and will put the team before all else. By the tone of these comments I see some people have heard and interview or two and are starting to realize exactly what kind of player/person Julio really is. Roll Tide and Go Falcons!!!
Julio Ain't No Foolio
April 29th, 2011
8:04 pm
http://isportsweb.com/2011/04/29/falcons-draft-julio-jones/
Birdthethird
April 29th, 2011
8:22 pm
Ok I see the light. At first I thought WTH! This kid better be the second coming of Jerry Rice! We gave away the kitchen sink with this kid but we wouldn’t have gotten an impact player otherwise. With these late picks we would have gotten mostly players to develop. We have an a$$ of players to develop now. At least we got a good long term player.
UGASlobberknocker
April 29th, 2011
8:36 pm
Looks like I underestimated the impact of J Houston’s weed bust..2nd round almost gone and he is still on the board..some mocks had him in the lower 1st rd beforehand .I dont think I saw one that he wasnt at least int he 2nd round.
that turned out to be same damned expensive weed .
Gregory Moundine
April 29th, 2011
8:48 pm
If Houston from Georgia is still on the Board, grab him!
bgfalcon
April 29th, 2011
8:49 pm
demarco murray to the falcons?
bgfalcon
April 29th, 2011
8:49 pm
4.3 speed, can catch and block and elusive
bgfalcon
April 29th, 2011
8:51 pm
can replace norwood? deadly speed?
bgfalcon
April 29th, 2011
8:51 pm
anybody feelin this pick?
cdog
April 29th, 2011
8:55 pm
GREAT JOB COACH SMITH AND DIMETROFF. I WISH YOU WAS RUNNING THE HAWKS ALSO INSTEAD OF RICK SUND. WE WOULD BE GETTNG READY FOR THE NBA FINALS
icedawg
April 29th, 2011
9:01 pm
Bow Ties are class.
bgfalcon
April 29th, 2011
9:01 pm
nvm the cowgirls got a hold of him…
jay
April 29th, 2011
9:18 pm
I would have rather had AJ but this is a good move. He will help open up the offense. Green Bay
exposed a glaring weakness on the offense. Now if they can find a way to get another defensive
end who can get after the opposing qb.
JRW7
April 29th, 2011
9:45 pm
Giving up all those draft picks? But JJ can play!!!! Good move!!
Finchdawg
April 29th, 2011
9:48 pm
Disappointed to see Allen Bailey go off the board. I thought TD might package our 3rd rounder and maybe 1-2 of the 7th rounders to get higher in the 3rd round and get a stronger defensive player. We’ll see what falls to us in a few minutes.
Finchdawg
April 29th, 2011
10:03 pm
Akeem Dent? And please remind me why we need another inside linebacker with Curtis Lofton as the starter?
SeenThisB4
April 29th, 2011
10:09 pm
Dent! LOL! Talk about a reach! This doesn’t even qualify as a “best available”. What dimwit is running the failcan’ts draft!
The Saints are pulverizing the failcan’ts in this draft, literally kicking their arse all over the place!
You got mud on yo’ face. You big disgrace. Kickin’ your can all over the place
Mariettaboy
April 29th, 2011
10:22 pm
This is an excellent move by the triumverate (TD,MS,AB).
Very few rookies are impact players. Jones likely will be one of them.
The defense is continuing to develop. The DE will be addressed in free agency.
Rip
April 29th, 2011
10:27 pm
At this point with only Julio in the draft, we are in big trouble, we are betting the farm and uture on the kid, the rest of this draft for us is picks we hope work out in the future no immediate help, What a great draft by the Saints, they already had the offense and got stronger, now they also got stronger on defense, we are toast, Everyone knows that Matt can not throw the deep ball. We needed Defense so bad
Rip
April 29th, 2011
10:30 pm
All I kept hearing is defense will be addressed in free agency, no free agents are running to the Falcons and there are not that many good impact defensive players that are free agents
.
Ditka
April 29th, 2011
10:49 pm
marietta boy- your post has intrigued me. exactly how is the D continuing to develop? did you happen to see the last game the faicans played? your basing your future on free agents when your D is in dire need of help and the triumvirate drafts a wr that matty meltdown doesn’t have the arm strength to throw to on a consistent basis. well i guess the 3 stooges were a triumvirate also!
falcon83
April 29th, 2011
10:59 pm
SeenThisB4- I would have to give the best draft class in the NFC south to Tampa, but I will give you that so far the Saints are having a better draft than the Falcons. Julio Jones will be exciting though!
honest_abe
April 29th, 2011
11:14 pm
dimitroff is overrated. ya i said it.
akeem dent? i’m a bulldawg fan too. but you already have a better version of akeem dent in c. lofton. with the need to get stronger and bigger along the defensive/offensive lines he reaches for a guy that is going to be a special teams player unless lofton gets injured.
just take a look at last years draft who stands out to you? exactly nobody. how about two years ago? sure w. moore has shown flashes. the jury is still out on p. jerry. but who else?
dimitroff isn’t as bad as mckay but he’s also not as great as people think either. He’s had one really good draft out of 3. and this year is shaping up to be a disaster. i guess if you can’t draft worth a lick might as well trade all of them away to get one player.
honest_abe
April 29th, 2011
11:25 pm
oh ya and lets be real. besides the bama fans how many of you numb nuts actually watched julio play? from the sound of it not many of you. you just think because dimitroff made the move and he’s the #2 ranked wr he’s the real deal. i’ve heard from more than one scout, he’s a solid wr. not a great likelihood he’ll be a superstar but he’ll be real solid. not what i like to hear about a guy the team just traded 5 picks for.
jonathon baldwin. please just remember that name. falcons could have had him at 27. he’ll be just as good if not better than julio. then the falcons could’ve traded up in the 2nd round for a pass rusher or a rb.
cam heyward/greg little/kendall hunter
jonathon baldwin/justin houston/kenrick ellis
jimmy smith/greg little/clint boling
a combination of any of these three is better than jones and dent.
ToccoaBird
April 29th, 2011
11:36 pm
Dent is a good pick. Get over it techies.
honest_abe
April 29th, 2011
11:40 pm
really? drafting a special teams player in the 3rd roundis a good pick? do you guys have tvs out there in toccoa? internet? or do you still get your news through the grape vine?
Mystikal
April 29th, 2011
11:43 pm
Grumpy_abe, Get over it and go to bed. Your audience left over an hour ago.
honest_abe
April 29th, 2011
11:45 pm
ic your point of view mystikal. very convincing. *applause*
P. Bull Terrier
April 29th, 2011
11:59 pm
After Derek Lowe’s adventures last night, I’m not sure if celebrating “Like a G6″ would be such a good idea – at least if “Sippin sizzurp in my ride” means what I suspect.
MaxxFalcon
April 30th, 2011
12:07 am
I’m loving this Julio pick more and more. DOL, stop trying to be DOB and putting song lyrics in the blog! Bowtie Pride!
Falcon Fan
April 30th, 2011
12:21 am
LOVE the Jones pick! He has more talent than Roddy White coming out of college and the work ethic to maximize it. Hopefully he can stay healthy. Matt Ryan will get him the ball. I can see him being the new favorite third down option. Maybe we can get our speed back in the name of Reggie Bush.The Saints drafted Ingram so they might not resign him. This organization knows how to win and keeps getting better and better. Can’t wait for the season to begin.
Pacuvio
April 30th, 2011
12:25 am
Great interview … but “have went”?
bgfalcon
April 30th, 2011
12:27 am
jordan todman 4.4 speed still out there.
TN Dawg
April 30th, 2011
12:38 am
Well, give the credit for saying all the right things. And I mean that as a compliment; he’s not just spouting cliches, but talking about specifics (the plays the Falcons showed him on video, his awareness of criticism of his hands, etc.). I’m still concerned that the Falcons possibly gave up too much to get him, but so far he looks like a solid, solid pick.
Hopefully he’ll be exposed to Roddy White’s work ethic, combine it with his own, and make the Falcons receivers a top-notch tandem. Time will tell.
honest_abe
April 30th, 2011
12:41 am
someone please tell me the last time an nfl franchise mortgaged the future on a single pick and it actually worked out. herschel? jj stokes? ricky williams? please someone, anyone give me one positive example of how trading a lot of picks for a single pick has helped a team.
which of the best franchises go this route of doing business? the best teams build through the draft. i.e. steelers, packers, colts the worst teams build through free agency. i.e. redskins, raiders, cincy..
the packers draft 2nd round receivers seems like its working out just fine for them. shipley, jennings and now cobb. btw driver was a 7th round pick and james jones a 3rd round pick.
finally if any team is justified in giving away a lot of picks for a wr it would be pitt. they have a great qb, a stud rb, a stifling d and a really have only one legitimate wr in mike wallace (a 3rd rounder btw) it would seem to me that trading for julio jones would be that one missing link. nope. they add to an already strong d by bolstering their d-line, they improved their o-line and a defensive back.
there’s a reason why the steelers are consistently one of the best defenses in the league. it’s also the same reason why the steelers year after year are super bowl contenders.
chs98
April 30th, 2011
1:01 am
no other player would have helped as much later in round one. this is a deep year for d linemen so we can get one later on. we need a verteran in the secondary to go with the young guys.add dlinemen or lb later and maybe ol depth. would love to get clint boling.
realitycheck
April 30th, 2011
1:40 am
What a crazy one for five deal for the Falcons, and they didn’t even get the best WR in the SEC. Two 1’s, a 2, and two 4’s for the sixth overall pick is absolutely unbelievable. The Falcons just gave up more for one player than the NFL has seen since the Saints basically traded their entire draft for Ricky Williams some 12 years ago. And how did that defense that Green Bay embarassed get any better? Unless Julio becomes Jerry Rice and leads the Falcons to a Super Bowl victory, this is likely to be a disasterous deal. Even more surprising to me is that Dimitroff would pull the trigger on a one for five deal, considering he had been tutored in New England and that their strength in drafts has been about acquiring picks, not trading them away. NFL success comes from the draft first and foremost, and the Falcons paid a fortune for Jones. This young man will have a tremendous amount of pressure on him, and it will be interesting to see how this all shakes out, but I feel very strongly that the Falcons paid way to much for any one player.
South ga boy in the atl
April 30th, 2011
2:07 am
Falcon fans, don’t pay any attention to seenmysisternakedb4nlikedit. He’s got about 5 different screen names he’s posting from because he has no life and tries to irritate us as though he were clever. Lol. I guess he didn’t want to go frog gigging or drink white litnin with all the other swamp people tonight. Lol. Good night all falcon fans
GTBob
April 30th, 2011
3:20 am
Dent is a good player. We don’t really need him but I guess it is good to have a solid backup in case Lofton gets hurt.
tjhook
April 30th, 2011
3:25 am
The Dent pick was made in anticipation of the Falcons losing LB Stephen Nicholas in free agency. I will miss Nicholas; great all-around ability
JSS
April 30th, 2011
3:59 am
@ Gwinnett Fred
Ha Ha, sorry he (my boss, Mark Pedowitz) was just named the new head of The CW… You are a snarky genius…
I like Julio Jones; but that two year old boy bow tie was weak. The crimson shirt (that is no knock at UA) was even worse. At least the folks at the old folks home will have sometime to talk about at meal time…
notso fast
April 30th, 2011
5:14 am
Loved the interview with JJ when asked about his Falcon’s number, he said he wasn’t concerned with his number as it was the player that made the number and not the number making the player. I think at this point the signing money is the only number he is worried about.
Wingman
April 30th, 2011
5:49 am
Someone said earlier that the D players are young and still learning. This a fact and he is right. The D will be better this year. Without any changes. ALSO, THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENCE! With a more open explosive offence with the addition of Julio, there will be less pressure on the D.
Senator Blutarski
April 30th, 2011
5:51 am
I remember all the fan criticism when the Falcons picked Matt Ryan in the draft instead of LSU’s defensive lineman. It’s a process that’s still unfolding, folks. It takes a while to get all the pieces. Jones has all the tools to be a Pro Bowl-type wide receiver.