Ex-Atlanta Falcons star pass-rusher John Abraham joined a local Atlanta podcast, “The Water Boyz Show” to discuss topics spanning his career in the NFL. Abraham was open and honest about his ups and downs in the NFL, from calling himself a bust in his mind to his struggles off the field acclimating to life in Atlanta after spending his first six years playing for the New York Jets. One of the hosts asked Abraham point-blank what head coach Mike Smith was thinking when he had the starters play that final game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012. Atlanta had already locked up home-field advantage in the playoffs, but Smith wanted his team to “go out there and play their best” for the final game of the regular season. Abraham responded with a huge accusation about the way the Buccaneers decided to end the 2012 season, courtesy of former Tampa Bay offensive tackle Donald Penn.
“[Penn] was like ‘Ay man, be careful out here. The coaches told us to hurt y’all.’ I was like ‘stop playin,’ he was like ‘nah, he told us to hurt y’all, so we’re going to be going extra, like after the whistle, we going to be doing everything to try and mess with y’all.”
According to JoeBucsFans.com, Penn denies the allegations.
These allegations carry more weight because, in this game, Atlanta lost not one but two key defensive players, including Abraham, who detailed the injury for us in the episode.
“It was the fourth quarter and I was like ‘Hell, I’m in the game, I might as well try and get me a sack.’ So, I came around the corner real smooth and I ended up getting close to [quarterback Josh Freeman], but I ended up getting hit by [fellow defensive end] Peria Jerry. Peria was coming around and hit me…”
Starting cornerback Dunta Robinson was also injured.
While Abraham admitted it was not the antics of the Tampa Bay side that caused his injury, the franchise sack leader lamented on what could have been a Super Bowl run for the then-13-3 Falcons. The 2012 season ended when the San Francisco 49ers ran their spread option attack to perfection with quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Frank Gore to the tune of a 28-24 championship game.
Abraham was notably playing hurt in this game and, like the rest of the Falcon's defense, could not contain Kaepernick’s running ability, opening up the offense.
The allegations gain even more credibility when you find out the head coach of the Buccaneers that season was Greg Schiano, a coach known for his play-hard mentality, which found his team entering those forbidden realms of football where defensive tackles attack the knees of offensive linemen in the victory formation.
For Falcons fans, this adds yet another wrinkle to one of Atlanta’s best chances at a Super Bowl. That 2012 team was supposed to be the team to break the drought. The offense loaded with talent, the defense was playing at an unreal clip, the stars were aligning until they inevitably burnt out amid a flurry of Gore touchdown runs.