Falcons: Great Baker Article from Pat Y.

[Jesus]

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Quote:You need to go back to what seemed like the winter of Sam Baker's NFL career to fully understand why everything is in full bloom these days.

The left tackle is playing his best football ever, and it’s no coincidence the Atlanta Falcons are off to a 3-0 start.

It wasn’t always like this. In fact, it has never even been close to this for Baker, whose first four seasons were filled with injuries and criticism. It got so bad during a 2011 season in which Baker lost his starting job that he was pretty sure his days in Atlanta were over.

But two intertwined events happened last winter that changed Baker’s perspective on life and maybe -- just maybe -- will go a long way toward changing the fortunes of a franchise.

The first came on Christmas. That’s the day Baker and his wife, Antoinette, had their first child. That’s the day Gunnar Harvey Baker was born.

"All of the sudden, you realize it’s not all about you," Baker said. "All of the sudden, I realized it doesn’t matter if everybody in the world hates me and says I can’t play, because he was there to love me, and he didn’t care one bit about football. He needed me and was going to love me no matter what."

Within the next couple of weeks, Baker would get a similar message from someone else. Even with Gunnar around, nothing else was guaranteed for Baker.

Atlanta’s season, one in which the Falcons seemingly had gone all-in for the Super Bowl after the draft-day trade to get Julio Jones, ended long before anyone expected with an ugly 24-2 road loss to the New York Giants in the first round of the playoffs.

"I had struggled and hadn’t played well at all," Baker said. "I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I thought I might be gone."

A lot of people assumed Baker would be gone. Before the team buses even departed the Meadowlands that day, fans already were talking about how the Falcons needed to find a new left tackle to protect quarterback Matt Ryan's blind side. The Falcons didn’t have a first-round draft pick, but maybe they could trade for one. Or maybe they could go out and find a tackle in free agency.

"I really wasn't sure what was going to happen," Sam Baker said of his status following last season. "I thought I might be gone."
As the brain trust got settled back into the team’s Flowery Branch, Ga., facility and brought in new offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter and offensive line coach Pat Hill, there were some high-level meetings about Baker’s future.

That’s when public opinion and reality went in different directions. That’s when head coach Mike Smith, who often comes across as a father figure to his players, called in Baker and talked to him like a son.

"I told Sam we were sticking with him, but that he needed to get away from football for a bit," Smith said. "I told him to go get his body rested up and healthy. The guy has always been tough and resilient, but the fact of the matter is Sam rarely was truly healthy from the day he first got here."

Baker walked out of the meeting as surprised as fans would be when they eventually realized they weren’t getting a new left tackle.

"To be totally honest, I went in there with a ton of uncertainty on my part," Baker said. "I felt honored that they still had faith in me. You don’t get a lot of loyalty in the NFL. I decided right then that I needed to listen to him, put my head down and go all out."

Baker went to his offseason home in California. He spent time with Gunnar and the rest of his family.

"I unplugged mentally," Baker said. "My wife had been telling me for years that I needed to unplug once in a while; that I wore it all on my sleeve and took it too hard when things weren’t going well."

There was time for Baker’s soul to heal. Same for his body, especially the back and elbow problems that bothered him so much last season. Within a few weeks, Baker began working with personal trainers.

It wasn’t the heavy weightlifting he usually did in the offseason, and there wasn’t anything focused specifically on football.

"The emphasis was on movement and just getting my body loose," Baker said.

The funny thing here is that even though he’s 6-foot-5 and 301 pounds, the ability to move fairly well was the one bright spot early in Baker’s career. Scouts and coaches said he had remarkably quick feet for a guy his size.

But, as injuries piled up, Baker couldn’t move well anymore. That’s why the Falcons gave his starting job to journeyman Will Svitek and briefly -- and unsuccessfully -- tried Baker at guard.

When the Falcons started their offseason program in the spring and Baker returned to Atlanta, he continued working with the team's director of athletic performance, Jeff Fish, on his movement. When training camp rolled around, Smith noticed a huge difference in Baker. It has carried over into the regular season, and Smith said Baker is playing better than ever.

"Absolutely," Smith said. "Sam’s healthy and that makes a big difference. You can see that he’s moving much more fluidly. He’s playing very well, and so is our entire offensive line. They’re doing a great job protecting Matt, and when Matt is able to stay on his feet, he’s able to distribute the ball and make a lot of good things happen."

The way Atlanta's offensive line is playing brings us back to another story about Gunnar. The Bakers chose his middle name as a way to honor Harvey Dahl. He was a guard for the Falcons when Baker first came into the league, and the two built a strong friendship. Dahl left Atlanta as a free agent prior to last season, and those who weren’t blaming Baker for all the offensive line’s problems last season were seemingly pointing to Dahl’s departure as the reason for the downfall.

Dahl, Baker, center Todd McClure, guard Justin Blalock and tackle Tyson Clabo had been together since 2008. Garrett Reynolds, who ended up in Dahl’s spot last year and remains there, joined the Falcons in 2009.

"When Harvey left and we had some injuries early last year, I think there were some issues with continuity on the line," Baker said. "But this is a great group, and most of us have been together for five years. We all love each other, and you can really see the continuity coming through now."

Maybe that continuity is shining because the Falcons gave Baker some emotional nurturing and allowed him to grow as a person. And, perhaps most of all, they gave him time to heal and become the player they always thought he could be.

[papachaz]

ummmm...........ok.


good read. I've always liked the guy as a person. So maybe it's been health related. problem is, can he stay healthy through a whole season? I hope so, he's definitely having his best stretch of games if not in his career, in recent years.

[Jesus]

I've always loved the way that Mike Smith deals with his players. They seem to respect and love him and he gets a lot out of them.

[RFlagg]

I saw this article when it was posted and thought it was one of Pat's best pieces. I knew Baker had a lot of injuries, but I didn't understand just how bad it had gotten. I'm amazed they didn't try the technique of "Sit down and get healthy" sooner.

[AUTiger7222]

(09-28-2012 01:10 PM)Jesus Wrote:  I've always loved the way that Mike Smith deals with his players. They seem to respect and love him and he gets a lot out of them.

Smitty reminds me so much of Bobby Cox in that regards.

[nativefalcon]

Awsome article. I'm glad hes got his head together. Hes playing lights out compared to the way he was. Like your almost going is that baker. lol

[phocis850]

Anything is lights out compared to how he was playing before.

[ChrisD]

3 months ago, you all wanted his head on a stake and shipped out of Atlanta. Now you all want him here and are believing he is our best offensive lineman. Let me just say that he's always been the player he has shown us so far this year. He's had some rough nagging injuries that have absolutely killed him. Being healthy is one of the most important things of being a lineman. You can't go out and fend off strong, fast lineman and linebackers when you're running around on your tippy-toes because you're in pain. He's always had the fundamentals right.

[AUTiger7222]

(09-29-2012 01:53 PM)ChrisD Wrote:  3 months ago, you all wanted his head on a stake and shipped out of Atlanta. Now you all want him here and are believing he is our best offensive lineman. Let me just say that he's always been the player he has shown us so far this year. He's had some rough nagging injuries that have absolutely killed him. Being healthy is one of the most important things of being a lineman. You can't go out and fend off strong, fast lineman and linebackers when you're running around on your tippy-toes because you're in pain. He's always had the fundamentals right.

But as the article says this is the first time we've seen this from him.

[phocis850]

I don't believe everyone is in love with him now, he still has a lot to prove.