Atlanta Falcons: Ovie Mughelli signed by Rams
Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli suffered a torn MCL and had surgery last season. He was released by the Falcons on May 8. (Bob Andres / bandres@ajc.com)
FLOWERY BRANCH — Former Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli, who was released in a salary cap move, signed a one-year deal with the St. Louis Rams on Saturday, accordng to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Mughelli, 32, missed most of last season after he suffered a right knee injury against Detroit in Week 7. The Falcons released him on May 8 after he was cleared to return to practice.
The Falcons needed salary cap space to sign cornerback Asante Samuel. Mughelli was scheduled to earn $3 million.
The Falcons drafted fullback Bradie Ewing in the fifth-round of the NFL draft. He’s competing with Mike Cox and Lee Meisner for the starting spot.
In St. Louis, Mughelli will compete against Brit Miller and undrafted rookie Todd Anderson for the fullback job.
Former Falcons executive Les Snead is the new general manager in St. Louis.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
Get instant updates on Twitter at AJCFalcons and you can join the Facebook Fan page at AJC Falcons.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
39 comments Add your comment
billbigsby56
July 28th, 2012
5:42 pm
CHURCH!!!!! Glad 2 c da boi Ovie land on his feet, more power 2 him. Until he plays us. LOL
Falcons 62 - Saints ZERO
July 28th, 2012
5:57 pm
Another Harvey Dahl mistake, I hope not ?
The Grinch
July 28th, 2012
6:17 pm
Good luck to you, Ovie…you’re a class act and a solid player. We’ll miss you.
Rick
July 28th, 2012
6:36 pm
Not a mistake we got younger, healthier, faster and cheaper. Happy for Olvie however, more power to him!
kevin
July 28th, 2012
6:51 pm
Can’t believe I met him @ collins hill golf course and didn’t even recognize him.
Hope he does better in St.Louis than Norwood!
PacificNWFalcon
July 28th, 2012
6:51 pm
Good on Ovie! He’s a great team player and great on the radio. He has a few years left in him.
Rick
July 28th, 2012
7:10 pm
Good for ovie…wonder how much what they signed him for?
SirReal
July 28th, 2012
7:12 pm
Glad to hear that. I was wondering where he’d end up. If not for that cheapshot by the Lions, he may have still been with us.
John
July 28th, 2012
8:01 pm
Good to see Ovie got picked up somewhere. Good luck pal.
Byrdz Eye
July 28th, 2012
9:48 pm
Good luck Ovie!
old qb
July 28th, 2012
10:13 pm
Ovie is an all-pro off and on the field. The MCL injury is a lot less serious than the ACL. He’ll play well and help theRams.
Michael M.
July 28th, 2012
10:15 pm
Congrats to Big ” O ” !
Mike Franklin
July 28th, 2012
10:32 pm
Love my team but the lack of a draft and the salary cap issue has been a big bite in the ass this year.
mars
July 28th, 2012
11:58 pm
Glad to see the love for Ovie. Warms my heart. Our karma is getting better, Bird Fans!
chuck
July 29th, 2012
12:52 am
What is the amount of his salary? Ovie is a wonderful man but he isn’t worth $3 milliona year.
Scott Anderson
July 29th, 2012
3:16 am
GOOD LUCK OVIE
ALOT OF GOOD YEARS WITH FALCONS
Steve From Dalton
July 29th, 2012
5:24 am
Ovie is a good guy and I wish him the best. Like Kickers and Punters, FB is a position that you can’t spend a lot of money. The League is a pass league now.
London Falcon
July 29th, 2012
5:26 am
Good luck Ovie. Always be a Falcons legend
SeenThisBFalcon
July 29th, 2012
7:25 am
good luck Ovie…
Paddy
July 29th, 2012
7:44 am
Guys like Ovie need to be playing in the NFL. All Falcon fans wish him well.
Me Too
July 29th, 2012
7:45 am
It was a good move but too late and did not get rid of all the deadwood!!
Most fans recognized the offense of the Falcons was doomed after the Green Bay game in 2010. It took the head coach an additional season and pathetic playoff performance against the Giants to come to grips with the impotent offense.
Teams don’t win playoff games with a running back and fullback who can’t catch passes and are involved in the majority of first and second down plays. The other running back is the Achilles hill for the Falcons this year.
Winning requires scoring points not building yardage stats and time of possession. An outstanding running back gets the first down that the team needs at a critical time for example in the New Orleans game on fourth and one. In contrast, the Falcons have the offensive firepower to avoid getting in these no win situations on fourth down.
Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Harry Douglas are the keys to winning football games both regular season and post season.
Tommy Maddox
July 29th, 2012
8:51 am
Good fortune Ovie!
thouhtful
July 29th, 2012
9:00 am
We wont win the SUPER BOWL with the FB line up we have now or keep people off of Matt Ryan with the ?????? in the OL then when they get pass the OL we have got a ???? starting rookie their to protect Ryan and open holes for TURNER? Big gamble by TD and Falcon management!!!!! I hope Ewing is ready for this????? Strange how they want to save money but this thing will unravel if they don’t go deep into playoffs! TD be bold and stop playing favorites with your Draft picks, please!
SirReal
July 29th, 2012
9:43 am
@Thoughtful….just asking….How intergral was the FB to the Pats, Packers, or even the Aints? We can still have a potent offense. I know we’ve been conditioned to think we’re a power running team but that wont be the case this year with the new regime. I think we’ll probably be 60% pass 40% run or something similar. If anything we just need a guy to CONSTANTLY chip and give Baker help.lol We all know he’s in for it this year. I say the bigger gamble was keeping Baker and having about 5 shots of whatever to believe this guy can really anchor the O line. Now THATS playing favorites. Totally agree with you as far as that.smh
Brandon
July 29th, 2012
9:50 am
Ovie, we will miss you. Give defenses hell!
Hands down
July 29th, 2012
10:46 am
Enter your comments here
yo mama
July 29th, 2012
10:59 am
I am happy for Ovie, he has a chance to influence the young players in st louis. dont forget they just got a heck of a coach in fish. look out.
Gamer
July 29th, 2012
11:41 am
Congratulation Ovie,,,a true NFL fullback.
MUCH SUCCESS TO YOU ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD AND IN LIFE……WELL NOT AGAINST THE FALCONS….
PaulieOldSchool
July 29th, 2012
12:02 pm
Ovie is a class act and he always gave us 100%. Good luck to you, Ovie, except for when you play Da Birds.
Just saying..
July 29th, 2012
12:03 pm
Good luck, Ovie! Best wishes for a class guy.
Ky Adco
July 29th, 2012
1:12 pm
Norwood, Dahl, Mughelli. Who do they want next?
Mikey
July 29th, 2012
1:43 pm
Congratulations Ovie… a class player who will make a big difference for them. Best of luck to him except when they play the Falcons. I hope he has a most enjoyable time there as he has lots of great football left in him if his knee is fully recovered. Just a matter of money for the us… not the dislike of the man or his play.
Sav Dawg
July 29th, 2012
1:49 pm
Me too @ 7:45 am, I could not disagree with you more. You must echo TD’s thinking. THE KEY to our matching up and winning against the upper echlon team in the NFL lies in the lines of scrimmage. OL,,, DL. All these skill people can’t be effective WO them. We have struggled on the lines since Mike Kenn days. TD’s first comments when he came here (also CMS) was we have to start building inside out. They proceeded to do excactly opposite!!!!!!!
REAL FALCONS FAN
July 29th, 2012
2:03 pm
good luck OVIE YOU WILL BE MISSED !
steven a smith
July 29th, 2012
2:49 pm
Sav Dawg
July 29th, 2012
1:49 pm
Me too @ 7:45 am, I could not disagree with you more. You must echo TD’s thinking. THE KEY to our matching up and winning against the upper echlon team in the NFL lies in the lines of scrimmage. OL,,, DL. All these skill people can’t be effective WO them
If your skilled people are sitting around and doing nothing they become disinterested. See “any team” where the focus is on “1″ aspect of the game or ‘1″ player. YOU GUYS ARE OUTDATED RELICS, DINOSAURS, who need to come into the 21st century.
Smiity will be unemployed next year with his “Dinosaur” Butt!!!
steven a smith
July 29th, 2012
2:52 pm
Sam “the baker” Baker and Joe “lumberjack” Hawley BOTH ought to be selling life insurance. Garrett Reynolds as well. ALL 3 are awful NFL lineman!!!
Atlanta Falcons: Ovie Mughelli signed by Rams | football-feed.com
July 29th, 2012
5:23 pm
[...] to Original Content From Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog): read more Related Articles Share About Author [...]
tjhook
July 29th, 2012
9:40 pm
Ovie, congratulations and thanks for the effort you gave us. You were quite the performer.
Seldom Found
July 30th, 2012
9:10 am
Good luck Ovie.
Sav Dog, you mentioned Dimitroff’s commitment to build inside out…I think he did a masterful job at that. His first draft was definitely inside focused he got a great safety, middle linebacker, and QB. On subsequent drafts he’s spent a lot of picks on the trenches. Not until recently did he start some focus on the edges notably with Julio.