Former Falcons QB to speak at luncheon

Steve Bartkowski will speak Thursday at St. Luke
BY LARRY GIERER - lgierer@ledger-enquirer.com --

It was 1978 when the Atlanta Falcons, led by young quarterback Steve Bartkowski, made their first appearance in the National Football League playoffs.

An exciting come-from-behind victory against the Saints in New Orleans, Bartkowski throwing a 57-yard touchdown pass to Alfred Jackson as time expired, was the highlight of the march to post-season play.

It was Bartkowski throwing late fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Jim Mitchell and Wallace Francis that led a come-from-behind 14-13 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles bringing the team its first playoff celebration.

But it was another game against the Eagles that year, one that didn't count in the standings, that still means the most to the now 55-year-old Bartkowski, the featured speaker at the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Chattahoochee Valley's "Feed Columbus Luncheon" on Thursday.

It was the fifth preseason game and Bartkowski, known then as "Peachtree Bart," was struggling as he had the entire pre-season. "The harder I tried, the worse it got. Fans were booing. I needed a good performance to keep my job and couldn't get it done. I had a complete absence of talent."

That night in a hotel room he got down on his knees. "I asked God to put his plan to work for me. I asked Christ to come into my life. Although I wasn't sure what had happened, the one thing I was sure of was the terrific sense of peace that came over me as I prayed. A burden had been lifted."

Two games later, Bartkowski now understands that "God was humbling me." He was the team's starting quarterback again and would not only lead the team to a wild card spot that year, but also to a 12-4 record and first division championship in the 1980 season. He led the NFL with 31 touchdown passes and threw for 3,544 yards.

Bartkowski has had his faith tested in more serious ways than during a football game over the last three years.

In June 2005, he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. He underwent radiation treatments, chemotherapy and in November of that year had a section of his colon removed.

Faith challenged

A year later, to relieve a painful reminder of his 13 years in the NFL, he decided to have both knees replaced. He had eight knee operations during his playing days. He collapsed while testing his new knees, and it was discovered that blood clots had formed in his legs and moved into his lungs.

"My doctor said he'd seen only one other case like this and the guy didn't make it," Bartkowski said. "I should be dead. If staring death in the face doesn't challenge one's faith, nothing will."

He's looking forward to his Columbus trip because of the cause.

Babbs Douglas, executive director of the food bank, a United Way agency, said the luncheon is important for raising funds but for another reason as well. "It's a chance to raise awareness about hunger locally and let people know just what we do."

Through the 180 agencies that utilize the food bank, 43,340 families have been supplied with food this year, which equals 360,645 meals. The organization's mobile pantry has taken 235,254 pounds of food out to people in rural counties.

Bartkowski, the NFL's top passer three times, said the talk he gives "centers around doing the right thing."

"From whom much is given, much is expected. We need to think about the least and lost, focusing on picking up for the shortfalls in the world. There are more people down and out," he said.

Bartkowski, who still holds the Falcons record for career passing yardage, currently works in marketing for DPR Construction Inc. in Atlanta, the same company that employs his sons Philip and Peter. The native of Des Moines, Iowa, has been married for 28 years Sandee. He is still on the Board of Directors of the Falcons.

Hosted TV shows

For several years, Bartkowski, who was the NFL's top draft choice in 1975, then NFL rookie of the year, hosted an outdoor television series called "Backroad Adventures With Steve Bartkowski" on TNN, then "Suzuki's Great Outdoors with Steve Bartkowski" on ESPN.

"That was fun," he said. "I love the outdoors. When I played football, I didn't get to do much fishing or hunting in the fall."

An avid golfer, he has toured with the Celebrity Players Golf tour.

Asked about the current status of the Falcons, Bartkowski said, "it's been a rough couple of years but (owner) Arthur Blank will get it straightened out."

Bartkowski said he liked the new general manager Thomas Dimitroff and coach Mike Smith. "I think we might be better this year than people expect," he said.

Wow. Ouch. Wow.

I hope the veteran's fund for players before the megadeals gets increased a bit.

Wow. Ouch. Wow.