Noted: Jeff Van Note, Falcons Legend, Passes Away

 By John Turney 

Jeff Van Note, the Atlanta Falcons' center for 18 seasons and a six-time Pro Bowler, died Friday the 2nd of October. He was 80. No cause of death was announced.

Jeffrey Aloysius Van Note was born February 7, 1946, in South Orange, New Jersey, and played at St. Joseph Prep in Bardstown, Kentucky, where he earned all-conference honors in three sports. Next, at the University of Kentucky, he was a freshman fullback in 1965, then a defensive end on the varsity from 1966 through 1968. 

He was second-team All-SEC as a sophomore, the Wildcats’ most valuable senior in 1968, and played in the Blue-Gray Game. Kentucky later retired his jersey and placed him in its athletics Hall of Fame. In 1990, for the program’s 100th season, the Louisville Courier-Journal named him to its All-time Kentucky team.

The Falcons took him in the 11th round of the 1969 draft, 262nd overall, as a linebacker. He was said to have been drafted to back up All-Pro middle linebacker Tommy Nobis, but that career path didn't happen. He was moved to center after the first day of practice at summer camp after his coach Norm Van Brocklin called him off teh field and "handed him an offensive playbook."

 Norm Van Brocklin moved him to center, a position he had not played, and the minor league team was where he was trained to get snapping skills. So, that year, after playing in the league opener, he also played for the Alabama Hawks of the Continental Football League in Huntsville.

"I think the old man (Van Brocklin) liked that Jeff was Dutch so he gave him a chance," one teammate remarked. That makes sense. Van Brocklin had cut him only to bring him back so he could play in the first game, so the youngster could get a $2,000 bonus for being on the active roster. But he was cut again. Van Note said at the time, "He cut me twice in the same week!"

While learning a new skill, he also bulked up his weight from about 230 pounds to 244 pounds to withstand the interior line pounding. It all worked, won the job in 1970. He held it for the next 16 seasons.

Photo credit: Atlanta Falcons

Van Note played in 246 games and started 226, second on the franchise list to Mike Kenn, the club has listed his starts at 225. He missed four games in an 18-year career, was truly an iron man.

He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1974, 1975, and each year from 1979 through 1982, and was a second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press in 1979 and 1982. United Press International named him First- or Second-team All-NFC four times. Those postseason "alls" would have been higher, but it was an era filled with crest pivots. Guys like Hall-of-Famers Mick Tinglehoff, Jim Otto, Jim Langer, Mike Webster and Dwight Stepehson were vacuuming most of the All-Pro honors, leaving little but All-Conference selections.

His competitors for those All-NFC and the Pro Bowls were pretty good, too. Rich Saul and Len Hauss were grabbing slots and were usually on better teams, which seemed to matter to the writers, coaches, and players who voted for those various teams.

Photo credit: Atlanta Falcons

During his prime, he was also receiving good reviews from scouts. One independent NFL scouting organization usually gave him a high "red" grade, their second-highest category. In 1980, he was "blue," and ranked as one of the top four centers in the game. 

Green Bay-based writer Cliff Christl was another independent voice and was someone who picked his own yearly All-Pro teams, but also gathered information for scouts and opponents. In 1975, he said Van Note was the second-best center in the NFL. Hall-of-Fame coach George Allen would regularly rank opposing NFL players, keeping lists in his playbooks. One such list from 1976 showed that Van Note was listed third among all NFL centers. There's more: Buffalo News writer Larry Felser, who had a similar process, named Van Note to his 1980 All-Pro team. He thought Van Note was the best center that year. High praise and not bad for a guy who claimed he'd been cut from his Pee Wee football team. Twice, he said. 

When he went to his first Pro Bowl after the 1974 season, he did it with a chip on his shoulder. "I went to the Pro Bowl disliking just about everyone connected with the game. I knew most of the guys mostly as opponents, and I didn't like them, particularly the Dallas and Los Angeles teams, but I found they were the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet."

After he'd been in the NFL for nearly a decade, he took on more of a leadership role, being called the "glue" of a fine Falcons O-line, with young talent like Mike Kenn, R.C. Theilmann, Dave Scott and Warren Bryant (all drafted in the top three rounds) who held that unit together and helped the team become a playoff contender in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

Down the road a few seasons, Van Note eventually became the player who "got by on guts, technique and intelligence." He was the proverbial and literal "grey beard" on the offensive line. He'd been in teh NFl since 1969 and in his final few years, he looked closer to 50 than someone in his mid-30s due to his wavy grey hair and chin whiskers and his missing front teeth.

Photo from Van Note's final season

One of the passers he protected, Kim McQuilken, summarized his venerable teammate this way: "Jeff epitomizes the old-school image that I really enjoyed. He's laid back, but he's a great leader at the same time. You always knew with Jeff that when he took out his teeth it was time to go to work. He just loves getting dirty and going to practice."

Van Note was the recipient of some good-natured ribbing from a popular X account that has over 750,000 followers called @Super70sSports in which the owner of the account, Rickey Cobb, would make a recurring joke in which he'd post a picture of Van Note in his final years and say something like he did on Mar 16, 2021—"Jeff Van Note led the NFC in 1986 in bitching about his VA benefits from the Korean War." Or, like one on Jan 7, 2024—"Jeff Van Note led the NFL in 1986 in telling World War II stories." Good stuff.

We contributed this on May 9, 2017: "Jeff Van Note was a fine center, but at times he'd go into a trance and start telling 'Nam stories" 

He snapped for quarterbacks like Bob Berry, Bob Lee, Steve Bartkowski, and David Archer and blocked for runners like Dave Hampton, William Andrews, and Gerald Riggs, all 1,000-plus runners. From 1970 through 1985, whenever a Falcons' skill player had success, Van Note was an integral part of the reason why.

Always concerned about players' rights, he was active in the NFLPA and was a vice president for a few years and then was president in 1983 and 1984. In an X post, the players' union said, "We mourn the passing of former NFLPA President Jeff Van Note, whose leadership and service helped strengthen our union. Our heartfelt condolences are with all who knew and loved him."

Jeff held on to his starting job until 1985 and the following season, when, at age 40, he played in his 246th game. It was on December 14, 1986, in his final home game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, the Falcons honored him and gave him a '57 Chevrolet in honor of his uniform number, a fitting gesture by the Falcons' organization.

Photo credit: Atlanta Falcons

Five years later, in the franchise’s 25th season, fans voted him the club’s all-time favorite player. He entered the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Falcons Ring of Honor in 2006. In 1984, he was also inducted into the American Football Association’s Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame, a nod to the Huntsville year. In addition, Van Note was also elected to the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) Hall of Very Good as part of their class of 2023.

After he retired, he worked as a color commentator on Falcons and Kentucky broadcasts through the 1990s and into the early 2000s, and was a regular on Atlanta sports radio. In 1997, he called Tennessee Oilers games. He left the Falcons and Kentucky booths after 2003, then filled in for Georgia Tech in the fall of 2004. He stayed on Falcons radio for years after that, hosting a studio pregame show and taking calls after the game. 

In a released statement, Arthur Blank, the Falcons' owner, said Van Note "embodied toughness, resilience, humility, and an unwavering commitment to his team," and that his place in the history of the franchise was secure. He is survived by his three children, per media reports.

On behalf of his alma mater, the university released a statement that in part read, "Jeff Van Note is one of the legends of Kentucky football," said J. Batt, Kentucky's Director of Athletics. "Known for his toughness as a player and for his many years of service on our radio broadcasts, Jeff loved being a Wildcat.  His accomplishments during his long NFL career speak for themselves and he always will be a treasured part of our heritage.  Our condolences are with Jeff’s family, friends and teammates."

"Jeff was the kind of player that coaches loved because he was always fully prepared ... A true professional," fellow lifelong Falcon lineman Mike Kenn added.

A beloved figure, voted by fans as the franchise’s all-time favorite player in 1991, Van Note leaves a legacy of a fine player and even better person. He was an all-star-level player in high school, college and in the NFL and he contributed to the welfare of his fellow NFL players and stayed connected to the game through the media after he retired. 

Jeff Van Note was truly "Mr. Falcon."