Atlanta, GA

Atlanta Falcons See ‘Bright Future’ for Rookie WR Casey Washington

Published

2 years ago

August 21, 2024

Atlanta Falcons See ‘Bright Future’ for Rookie WR Casey Washington

When receiver Casey Washington was preparing for his pre-draft visit with the Atlanta Falcons, he looked up highlights of the team’s wideouts coach, Ike Hilliard.

A 12-year veteran who made over 500 receptions and eclipsed 6,000 receiving yards, Hilliard’s lengthy playing career featured no shortage of standout plays. And after watching some of them online, Washington had a newfound respect for his prospective position coach.

“I was like, ‘Man, I’m playing for a dog,’” Washington said last week at the Falcons’ practice facility in Flowery Branch.

But at the time, Washington was merely a draft hopeful. His dreams became reality during the third day of April’s draft, as Hilliard and the Falcons selected him in the sixth round.

And in the three and a half months since Washington arrived for rookie minicamp May 9, he’s compiled quite the highlight reel of his own. Now, fandom has spread to Hilliard.

“I’m probably the biggest Casey fan ever,” Hilliard said last week.

As Washington has learned more about Hilliard, the more he’s grown to respect him. Hilliard is personble and genuine, someone who cares about who players are as people and what goes on in their lives.

Washington wants to be a coach once he’s done playing. Hilliard has been a positive influence on him. But for now, Hilliard is focused on helping Washington extend his playing career as long as possible.

“What we saw saw on tape is a guy that’s going to play full speed all the time,” Hilliard said. “He’s not afraid in any area of the field. He has outstanding hands. The hand-eye coordination.

“We’re working on putting him in positions where he can understand, within each play, how he fits what the progression is, the depth and timing of his route.”

Washington was born two months premature, tipping the scales at four pounds, six ounces. He now stands 6-foot, 200 pounds, but his mentality hasn’t changed. Since he was a child in Round Rock, Texas, Washington said he’s always thought he was bigger than he really was.

Always an underdog — from underrecruited to the University of Illinois, from no touchdowns entering his senior year to four in his final three games, from premature to the NFL — Washington has grown to embrace fearlessness.

“It’s a chip on my shoulder,” Washington said. “It’s not to prove anyone else wrong or do anything for anyone else, it’s just to prove myself right. And like I said, keep God first.”

Perhaps the biggest adjustment from college to the NFL for Washington is the complexity of the offense. At Illinois, Washington often stood on the same side of the field and ran a limited route tree, which consisted of five or six different concepts.

Rookies already deal with meeting room demands and schedule constraints. Life becomes all about football — and for Washington, that includes trying to grasp a playbook with much more variety in what it asks receivers to do.

“The learning curve is a little bit different,” Hilliard said. “Understanding how to run those routes within a scheme, within a combination in patterns during every changing look on defense is a little bit of a challenge.

“We’re asking him to do a lot more than he’s ever done. It will take a little bit of time, but he’s handled it well so far.”

Hilliard noted the Falcons have put more on Washington’s plate since receiver Rondale Moore suffered a season-ending knee injury Aug. 7 during joint practices with the Miami Dolphins.

Atlanta is closely monitoring Washington’s progress with hopes he will accelerate his learning curve in a manner where he can be counted on more frequently in the days to come.

But the Falcons won’t merely be gifting playing time to Washington. Hilliard said he has to find ways to learn the play book and earn reps and opportunities through tape, which is the resume for each player.

Washington put plenty of good things on tape in his preseason debut against the Dolphins on Aug. 9, catching three passes for 27 years. In his second exhibition contest, he was targeted six times but failed to make a reception.

The Falcons are still trying to decipher Washington’s role in the offense for this fall, but Hilliard knows this much: Washington can, if utilized correctly, be a contributor.

“He’s made plays,” Hilliard said. “We’re excited about that. We’re going to continue to challenge him and ask him for more. We’ll see where he fits in the grand scheme of what we’re trying to do.”

Washington noted there is not just a new playbook to learn, but also new verbiage. However, Hilliard and staff have been patient with him thus far. Washington acknowledged the existence of a learning curve but said he’s learning one step at a time — and he tries to keep a day-by-day mentality.

The 23-year-old Washington knows he has plenty to clean up. He also knows he has the resources at his disposal to do exactly that.

“Try not to get too high, too low, on the good and bad,” Washington said. “Just look at the film and take it for what it is — black and white. Just being cleaner with my proper route depths and being where I need to be at landmarks, and everything after that will take care of itself.”

While there’s much more to playing receiver than just catching the football, Washington has impressed the Falcons’ coaching staff in that element. Hilliard said he’s shown strong hands, caught the ball away from his frame, is comfortable at the catch point and can track the ball downfield.

As a blocker, Washington is physical, uses his hands and executes within his run fit.

He’s impressed not only Hilliard but also veteran receiver KhaDarel Hodge, who is entering his seventh year in the NFL, with his consistency and work ethic.

“Hard worker,” Hodge said. “Every day, Casey brings it. He’s been making some good plays. I can see a bright future for Casey. He’s a really good player and very hard worker.”

Opportunity exists for Washington to make his mark. He arrived in Atlanta as an ascending player, blooming late at Illinois while playing his best ball over the last month of his college career.

Washington’s arrow has continued pointing upward since he arrived in Flowery Branch, and while he’s still battling a difficult learning curve, internal optimism exists surrounding his upside.

“We’re excited about where he is,” Hilliard said. “We’ll see what he can retain, and hopefully it’ll be enough where he can help us with our playmaking going forward.”

As for Washington, the story itself is still one to take in. When he took the field for his preseason debut at Hard Rock Stadium, he did so with a wide smile on his face, realizing he’d fulfilled a life-long dream.

But there’s more for Washington to do. He has his sights set on making Atlanta’s active roster and carving out a role on gamedays.

Yet for now, Washington is focused only on the day ahead — and making sure he extends his stay on Cloud 9 for many years to come.

“I’m just living the dream, man,” Washington said after his first preseason game. “I’m just happy to be here, and I’m just blessed. It’s special to me, and I’m going to run with it. I’m going to get better, get back to work and become the best me I can be.”

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Atlanta, GA

Luke Kornet calls on Atlanta Hawks to cancel ‘Magic City Monday’ promo

Published

4 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Luke Kornet calls on Atlanta Hawks to cancel ‘Magic City Monday’ promo

An NBA player from an opposing team has called on the Atlanta Hawks to cancel their upcoming game promotion that revolves around celebrating a well-known local gentleman’s club.

San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet asked the Hawks to reconsider their “Magic City Monday” plans for a March 16 game against the Orlando Magic in a letter posted to Medium on Monday, March 2. Atlanta’s ownership group and front office recently touted the one-night collaboration as an ode to an “iconic cultural institution,” citing Magic City’s role and impact in Atlanta’s Black communities and hip-hop culture in the announcement.

But Kornet wrote that “the Hawks failed to acknowledge that this place is, as the business itself boasts, ‘Atlanta’s premier strip club.’ “

“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world,” Kornet continued. “We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.

“Allowing this night to go forward without protest would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.”

Magic City Kitchen is also slated to serve two versions of its “world famous” lemon pepper wings – Louwill Lemon Pepper BBQ – at the March 16 game. The flavor is named after three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year-winner, Lou Williams. Rapper T.I. is scheduled to perform at halftime and limited edition Magic City merchandise will be available to purchase at the game.

Magic City celebrated 40 years with a five-part STARZ docuseries, ‘Magic City: An American Fantasy,’ that was produced by Hawks principal owner Jami Gertz and Atlanta native Jermaine Dupri. Magic City founder Michael “Mr. Magic” Barney and T.I. are scheduled to record a live podcast from inside Atlanta’s State Farm Arena before the game.

Kornet, 30, hopes the Hawks and NBA officials listen to him instead.

“I’d like to encourage the league, its owners, employees and fans to hold the Atlanta Hawks to a higher standard of what they find worthy of promoting,” Kornet wrote. “I and others throughout the league were surprised by and object to the Hawks’ decision. We desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience. The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision.”

Luke Kornet stats

Kornet is averaging a career-best 7.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in his first season with the Spurs. This is the sixth team he’s played for in his nine NBA seasons, with his previous four years spent on the Boston Celtics.

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Atlanta, GA

Blazers Outclassed in Every Aspect By Atlanta

Published

16 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Blazers Outclassed in Every Aspect By Atlanta

The Portland Trail Blazers put up an absolute stinker on Sunday, getting destroyed by the .500 Atlanta Hawks, 135-101. It was a soul-destroying loss. Jrue Holiday and Donovan Clingan have at least some reason to hold their heads high, with Holiday putting up 23 points on 56.3% shooting and Clingan getting a 15 point/15 rebound double-double. Otherwise you have to squint pretty hard to take away anything positive for the Blazers.

Here are a few observations from the game:

First Quarter Disaster Class

Not a whole lot went right for the Blazers in the first quarter other than Jrue Holiday’s 14 points in the frame. No other Blazer could manage more than three points. At the other end of the court, the Hawks were getting to the free throw line with ease, taking 15 freebies against only two for the Blazers. Atlanta found it easy to get wide-open shots too. Simple penetrate-and-kick was the order of the day, and it was shockingly successful. Five turnovers for Portland didn’t help either. With everything going wrong, the refs added to the misery, ignoring some laughably physical play for a steal at one end, while whistling Vit Krejci for a block on a clear charge on the other. Poor whistles led to frustration, with Clingan losing the plot a bit and picking up his third foul in the quarter out of frustration. Finishing down 19 at the end of the first quarter is no way to win a basketball game, yet somehow it could have been worse. With a bit over a minute to go, the Blazers had been down 24. Credit for not giving up I guess, but… yeesh.

Okongwu was terrific. At one point in the 2nd quarter, he had 20 points on 77.8% shooting from the field and 75% shooting from deep. Not bad for a 6’10” center. He was always open in the corner. Every time down the court. If Atlanta had wanted to make feeding him a priority, Okongwu might have finished with 60. Instead, they ignored the obvious and gave every Hawk who took the court plenty of touches and shots. It’s hard to argue with a 34-point win, but it really should have been a 40-point lead at halftime if the Hawks had pressed their advantage.

Henderson’s Three-Point Shot

It’s still early days for Henderson’s 25-26 season, but he’s shown good things coming back from injury. His strength and first step are encouraging. His three-point shooting, however, has been a real problem. For a team that was already at or around the worst three-point percentage in the NBA before Henderson took the court, the last thing they needed was him to come in and shoot 24% for the season. In this game he attempted 4 of them, making one. Two of his misses were so ugly that Atlanta fans were embarrassed for him. Without a functional shot from range, he’s just not showing enough to win the starting job.

Three Quarters of Garbage Time

One way to look at this game is to give the Blazers credit for keeping it pretty even for most of the game after the soul-crushing first quarter. You could also give Portland credit for finding their way to the arena today. This game was decided early and nothing the Blazers did the rest of the way gave anybody a sense that they could mount a comeback. That’s pretty discouraging.

Nice Shooting Percentage From Krejci, But…

75% shooting from the field and 66% from three for Krejci? Yes, please! Three total shots from deep and five overall in a game when they needed points? No, no, no. Krejci seemed like a brilliant pickup for the Blazers, what with him shooting over 40% from three the last three season in Atlanta. He just hasn’t had the kind of impact we all imagined so far. It’s still early in his Blazer career, but the 31.7% that Krejci is shooting from beyond the arc for the Blazers isn’t what anyone had in mind. Today he made his first three shots, with two of them from deep. Would this be the game that could get him on track? Unfortunately he’d only take one more three-pointer the rest of the game. It’s incredible that they wouldn’t at least try to lean into him a bit more when he looked like he might be poised to break out of his Blazers’ shooting slump.

The Blazers will get two days off before taking on the apparently lottery-bound Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. A Portland win would probably suit both clubs just fine.

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Atlanta, GA

Drama mars finish of half-marathon national championships in Atlanta

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Drama mars finish of half-marathon national championships in Atlanta

The 2026 Publix Atlanta Marathon, which served as the USA Track & Field Half Marathon Championships, met chaos Sunday in the women’s half marathon event.

Three runners — Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat — were led off course by an official race vehicle with less than 2 miles to go. The nearly-half-mile error, according to data from Hurley’s Strava account, cost the runners their top-three finishes.

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