Update: Ray Hamilton’s response to Mike Smith’s apology
Falcons coach Mike Smith during Sunday's heated game. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Falcons coach Mike Smith today expressed remorse for his actions on the sideline near the end of his team’s breathless victory over Carolina on Sunday and said he has apologized to defensive line coach Ray Hamilton.
“It was something that happened in the heat of battle,” Smith said, speaking by phone from team headquarters in Flowery Branch.
Of Hamilton, Smith said: “Ray and I have worked together for 10 years [including five when the two were assistants in Jacksonville]; he’s one of my closest friends in coaching … I apologized to him this morning. I said, ‘I’m very sorry about my action. I’m very sorry about what happened last night.’ ”
Said Hamilton, also via phone: “Mike mentioned it to me this morning. I didn’t even realize anything had happened. I didn’t give it a second thought until somebody called me and asked about it this morning.”
Of Smith’s apology, Hamilton said: “His apology is fine. I’ve been coaching 27 years. On the sideline, all kinds of shoving goes on. You’d be amazed at the stuff that gets said down there. But there’s nothing ever disrespectful. Smitty’s a first-class guy.”
Matt Bryant’s field goal had given the Falcons a 30-28 lead with five seconds remaining, but they still had to defend one last play. After a touchback on the kickoff, Carolina took possession at its 20. Smith saw that the Falcons had only 10 players on the field — he would not identify the missing man — and was less than pleased.
Said Smith: “We were trying to finish the game. We were trying to get the right personnel. We didn’t have the right number of players.”
Fox cameras caught an angry Smith putting both hands on Hamilton’s arm and administering a slight shove. Said Smith: “I was on a tirade — that’s all. I did not push him. I was on a tirade and I threw my hands.”
Thinking quickly, Smith signaled for a timeout before Carolina could snap the ball, knowing full well the Falcons had used their final allotted timeout just after the two-minute warning. He also knew that NFL rules don’t levy a penalty when a team tries to call a timeout it doesn’t have.
The Falcons were able to send an 11th defender into the game while the officials were telling Smith he couldn’t have a timeout, which was his intention all along. “I was trying to get 11 guys on the field,” he said. “We didn’t have 11 guys.”
Mission accomplished. John Abraham sacked Cam Newton on the final play and the Falcons left with one of their most stirring victories in Smith’s four-plus seasons as head coach. In Smith’s mind, however, his tactical coup did not excuse the anger he expressed toward Hamilton.
“Sideline etiquette is important,” Smith said. “I’ve got to be 100 percent. I wasn’t 100 percent.”
For the record, Smith’s 2012 team holds a winning percentage of 1.000. The Falcons are 4-0. And with Sunday’s victory, Smith (47-21) passed Leeman Bennett (46-41) as the second-winningest coach in franchise history. Dan Reeves (49-59-1) ranks first.
By Mark Bradley
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290 comments Add your comment
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
October 1st, 2012
5:19 pm
John H.
October 1st, 2012
2:04 pm
I am glad the Falcons won. But Mike Smith looked liked an idiot on TV with that tirade. If that was one of his white assistant coaches he would have been more calm.
_______________________________________________
THANK YOU!
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
October 1st, 2012
5:27 pm
Smith is a clown………..
He’s mad because he got his butt chewed by the boss on NATIONAL TELEVISION and he took it out on an assistant.
A CLASSLESS COACH for a CLASSLESS CITY.
Quite fitting actually.
That’s why this town will never win anything past the regular season.
HA HA
AlanFalcon
October 1st, 2012
5:28 pm
Anyone notice how nice it smells with out the 0-4 Saints that are trying to hide and stay away form this blog?
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
October 1st, 2012
5:30 pm
After the bounties and Smith getting fined for attacking opposing players, you know the Commissioner is going to tap that wallet.
Since he is a 2nd time offender, a suspension will be coming this time.
Dude needs some anger management for sure.
Dude should have knocked his old butt out.
HA HA
AlanFalcon
October 1st, 2012
5:31 pm
Spoke to early, notice that one pull his head out of the sand and tried to sy something intelligent !
Wake up call.
October 1st, 2012
5:34 pm
So the Falcons coach stops play by calling a timeout that he knew that he didn’t have? And Falcons fans refer to the Carolina QB as “Scam”? By golly you people are not only delusional…you’re also hypocrites. I guarantee the NFL will fix this for next season, and it will be known as the Mike Smith rule.
LOL at The Aints
October 1st, 2012
5:41 pm
Wake up call, would you like some Cheese with that Wine LOL,,,
LOL at The Aints
October 1st, 2012
5:52 pm
MCR! Put down the crack pipe brotha, you know that stuff is bad for ya! LOL!!
Jeremiah Wright
October 1st, 2012
5:59 pm
For all those that are criticizing Coach Smith (the guys that know nothing about football nor their manhood), there will be a meeting of the American Progressive Pessimist Club on Friday the 13th. It is at 1313 Lucky Street at 13::00.
Bring your grumpy dispositions, your bag of gripes and your list of complaints.
Sour grapes and sauerkraut will be served for lunch.
SCFalcon
October 1st, 2012
6:02 pm
All I have to say to all you Panther lovin, Falcon hating sad sacks is “Hello Kitty”!
Jeremiah Wright
October 1st, 2012
6:09 pm
“Choke” is embarrassing himself……………..and he doesn’t even know it. Brilliant.
vesaversa
October 1st, 2012
6:31 pm
I am beginning to really like coach Smith i like his passion out on the field . If only them Ga Dawg had such a passionate coach . Good teams find ways to win when they play bad games like the one the Falcons played this pass Sunday
Paddy
October 1st, 2012
6:36 pm
Seeing Mr Blank on the field during the game has always made me cringe. The sideline is for the team, always has. It is so Little League!
Matty Bicep
October 1st, 2012
6:41 pm
Tony Dungy was milktoast…Dude should have 5 rings will all the talent he was surrounded with. Notice Tampa Bay goes and when a SB soon as he leaves, then he have freaking Payton Manning and only can win 1 trophy? LOL. I mean, Eli has 2 rings, if Indy was coached by Tom Coughlin, Payton would have 4 rings.
P Rose
October 1st, 2012
6:55 pm
Choke, you are a total hypocrite. Coach Smith, in a moment of anger, shoved or poked an assistant, a grown man fully capable of defending himself. He didn’t hurt him.
Your idol bludgeoned innocent animals to death for his own sick amusement, a cruel and inhumane act. How can you defend his actions while getting so up in arms over a little shove by one grown man against another.
I expect you to use the “dogs aren’t humans” argument. How pathetic that you are unable to feel any mercy at all towards such a helpless species of creatures.
You”l do or say anything to defend Mike Vick, and you’ll take any cheap shot you can find at the white player who replaced him and the white coaches and management who made the VERY rational and logical decision to release that sick BUM.
P Rose
October 1st, 2012
7:00 pm
Admit it, Choke. The Falcons decision to release your precious Vick was a no-brainer that they HAD to make. It had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with race.
YOUR offensive opinions, which you CONSTANTLY post, have EVERYTHING to do with race and NOTHING to do with football.
Everyone here despises you but you’re like Ron Mexico’s herpes — you’re never going to go away.
Shame on you.
KQuark
October 1st, 2012
7:00 pm
Shite happens in a sport as emotional as football but I think Coach Smith showed he was a class act for apologizing. Unlike the Tampa Bay coach who is acting like a petulant adolescent with all out rushes on kneel downs. Not to mention the big cheat Sean Payton.
ChiefEddie
October 1st, 2012
7:04 pm
Game is for 60 minutes, I can understand players celebrating but Coaches are paid to manage a game. Fortunately, we had a head coach that still had his head in the game to realize we were a man short. If that was Hamilton’s reponsibility to make sure that all players were on the field, no apology is needed.
Falcons get an extra timeout?? - This Board Rocks
October 1st, 2012
7:45 pm
[...] Here's the explanation. Its bogus and teams should be flagged for it. Update: Ray Hamilton’s response to Mike Smith’s apology | Mark Bradley [...]
Getaway
October 1st, 2012
7:45 pm
Judging by the all the new names, Pat Y over at the NFCS Blog must have linked to this story. Fun!
Panther fans calling Falcons fans hypocrites. Priceless. You can say whatever about Smitty and his outburst, but every single one of you was wanting your coach to man up yesterday on that 4th and 1. You think Mike “Angry Bird” Smith would have punted there?
Mark
October 1st, 2012
7:55 pm
Two things are certain. Carolina won’t make the playoffs (this year). Atlanta will lose again in the first round. Book it!
NFC South evening update | News-ON Atlanta
October 1st, 2012
8:06 pm
[...] Bradley does a nice job of describing a scene that was more obvious to viewers at home than to those of us in the Georgia Dome press box. The [...]
rich
October 1st, 2012
8:07 pm
The last statement says Dan Reeves was 49-59-1 – obviously this is incorrect. What was his correct record with the Falcons?
007
October 1st, 2012
8:08 pm
I like Mike.
DawgNole
October 1st, 2012
8:17 pm
Home of the Braves
October 1st, 2012
12:22 pm
Smitty and the entire team need to sit down in a circle and talk about their feelings and what makes them sad. They then need to draw pitures of flowers and kittens and tape them to the locker rooms walls. Then they need to join hands and sing the entire soundtrack of A SOUND OF MUSIC. Finish it off with a group hug.
JRHD
October 1st, 2012
12:26 pm
@ Home – man I wish there was a “Like” button on AJC blogs…
_____________________
Ditto. This one made me LOL.
DawgNole
October 1st, 2012
8:21 pm
G-dub
October 1st, 2012
12:30 pm
Blank need to stay in the owners box.
___________________
Ditto again!!! For all the good Blank’s done with the Falcons, this is the opposite extreme. He should keep his hovering butt in the owner’s box until AFTER the final gun. Reminds me of the arrogant and meddlesome Cowpoke Jerry Jones.
Riser Upper
October 1st, 2012
8:26 pm
Two things:
One, the telecast crew was TOTALLY USELESS during this episode. They a) had no clue what Smitty was upset about and b) missed the whole “call a timeout I don’t have to buy some time” strategy.
Second, I find it a bit ironic. You Smitty haters claim he is a bully, lost control of the sideline, didn’t have his head in the game, blah, blah, yet he kept his head enough to call the timeout to buy the time to get his player on the field. Sounds pretty smart to me.
One parting shot: I’ll take Ryan over sCam any day. At least played his college ball legitimately.
air of mendacity
October 1st, 2012
8:31 pm
I just knew it – falcons and Blank are going to extract thousands of dollars from season ticket holders by requiring personal seat licenses for new stadium – why is no one up in arms about this?? – when you spend over 13,000 on tickets, an additional fee will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It really ticks me off because they tried to hide it from the fans. Are you asleep Bradley??
Ken
October 1st, 2012
8:33 pm
Good job Smitty, I hope Smitty can get another good shot in on MEHALL this sunday!
air of mendacity
October 1st, 2012
8:33 pm
only people who will be at the stadium in the future will be corporate tickets and people who don’t give a damn about the team.
DawgNole
October 1st, 2012
8:38 pm
TheTruth
October 1st, 2012
2:05 pm
He is lying about the incident, which tells me he’s tryingto downplay it.
Smith not only shoved his coach, he laid into him as hard as he could. It took several players and coaches standiing nearby to ensure a brawl didn’t break out. I was in shock…and so were the announcers, watching it. It was a serious instance of inappropriate behavior and Smith is now trying to lie about what he did / didn’t do.
I’m not okay with that. I wonder if Arthur is?
____________________
Thanks for letting us know you’re not okay with it. I’m sure we all care deeply about how you feel.
Fan
October 1st, 2012
8:42 pm
Only an issue because it was caught on national tv. Let em coach
DawgNole
October 1st, 2012
8:48 pm
Rhettt
October 1st, 2012
3:49 pm
Barry, nobody is going to read your rants when you are screaming. I got half way through your first line and moved on. Probably many others did likewise.
_____________________
Probably ALL others did likewise.
Mark Bradley
October 1st, 2012
8:49 pm
Reeves was indeed 49-59-1 with the Falcons. He had two winning seasons of his seven here.
DawgNole
October 1st, 2012
8:55 pm
Matt “CHOKE” Ryan
October 1st, 2012
5:20 pm
Those of you supporting Smith for being a MANLY MAN would be the first ones calling for Turner to be traded if he shoved CHOKE.
So stop your lying.
No much has changed in the South………
_____________________
“No” much? Dumbazz.
Plenty has changed in the South, but not enough, unfortunately, to keep dirtbags like you off of public forums.
air of mendacity
October 1st, 2012
8:56 pm
Mark – what about the PSL’s Were you aware of this coming down the pike
DawgNole
October 1st, 2012
9:00 pm
Mark Bradley
October 1st, 2012
8:49 pm
Reeves was indeed 49-59-1 with the Falcons. He had two winning seasons of his seven here.
____________________
I think people tend to forget how poorly the Falcons–and all ATL pro teams, for that matter–have performed over the years. Perhaps in this case it’s because–for the moment, anyway–the Falcons and Braves are experiencing success.
Mark Bradley
October 1st, 2012
9:09 pm
PSLs are a way of new-stadium life, for better or worse
air of mendacity
October 1st, 2012
9:41 pm
So you agree only the 1% – corporate types – will be able to afford season tickets? It is not right – the thing is I have 8 tix on 50 since the 70’s – will have to give most of them up because they will become so damned expensive. (not that they are not expensive now)
Jeremiah Wright
October 1st, 2012
9:49 pm
Man, what wuzzy’s there are posting on a football blog. I saw it, no big deal. So he gave his trusted assistant a shove in a heated moment. WHOOPIE. I’D TAKE A PUNCH IN THE NOSE FROM MY BOSS UNDER PRESSURE, if all was OK afterwords.
It is disturbing there are so many squishy squeamish “men” commenting here.
what happened to good sports?
October 1st, 2012
9:53 pm
So, now the code word for bad sportsmanship is “passion”. Got it. Bad sportsmanship is ok as long as it produces a “w”. Ahh, remember when you congratulated your opponent after a game? Ryan tells his opponent to “get off my xxxxing field”. Classy. But, hey, the important fact is the Falcons won so it’s all good.
Jeremiah Wright
October 1st, 2012
9:55 pm
“air”…………you should give away half your tickets. Need to level the playing field. We’ve got to be fair. I only want everyone to have a shot.
Jeremiah Wright
October 1st, 2012
9:57 pm
what happened to good sports?
October 1st, 2012
9:53 pm
So, now the code word for bad sportsmanship is “passion”. Got it. Bad sportsmanship is ok as long as it produces a “w”. Ahh, remember when you congratulated your opponent after a game? Ryan tells his opponent to “get off my xxxxing field”. Classy. But, hey, the important fact is the Falcons won so it’s all good.
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Man, what were YOU watching? Geez.
Jofo
October 1st, 2012
10:01 pm
On My Way (I sure hope so!) obviously he was one of your LOSING players! Lol!!!
jaz
October 1st, 2012
10:31 pm
The teams are playing hard nosed ball, but the bloggers are calling for “politically correct” football.
It sure was fortunate that one of our coaches was awake on the sidelines and realized that we only had ten men on the field. By the way, with all the coaches we have, which coach is responsible for the # of players on the field? As head coach I would have been upset too.
Jeremiah Wright
October 1st, 2012
10:48 pm
Amazing how much this blog imitates a current political blog. You can tell the lefties from the righties based on their comment on Smith’s reaction. It’s like being on yahoo………..eewwwwwwww
Keith
October 1st, 2012
10:58 pm
Most fans like that Smith has fire. The coach didn’t think anything about it…and he has all the right to do so. If it didn’t bother him, it shouldn’t bother us as fans.
Go FALCONS!
Keith
October 1st, 2012
10:58 pm
*asst coach I meant to say
LOL at the Aints
October 1st, 2012
11:01 pm
Matt “CHOKE” Ryan
October 1st, 2012
5:19 pm
John H.
October 1st, 2012
2:04 pm
I am glad the Falcons won. But Mike Smith looked liked an idiot on TV with that tirade. If that was one of his white assistant coaches he would have been more calm.
Your comment smacks of what you accuse others of,, what a loser,
Getaway
October 1st, 2012
11:05 pm
PSLs are a way of new-stadium life, for better or worse.
– Mark Bradley
BTW, Panther fans, who do NFL fans have to thank for PSLs?
Why none other than Mr. Panther Jerry Richardson himself. Hey, stay classy Charlotte.