Falcons owner Arthur Blank misses first regular season game ever

The Falcons reported that starting guard Jalen Mayfield would be inactive for the team’s season finale against the Saints, but he wasn’t the only member of the franchise that missed his first game this season. Arthur Blank, who has never missed a regular season game as the owner of the Falcons, wasn’t inside Mercedes Benz Stadium after testing positive for COVID-19.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank not at MBS today. He has COVID — mild symptoms — and it’ll be his first regular season game missed as an owner.

— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) January 9, 2022

The Falcons have only ever been ran by Arthur Blank since I’ve been able to comprehend football, so it is crazy to think that he’s never missed one of these pointless season finales when the team is already out of playoff contention.

Atlanta is lucky to have Blank as an owner; he’s largely been the driving force in the city for most philanthropic efforts. The billionaire owner donated $17,000,000 to help a civil rights museum expand last February. Co-founders of Home Depot, Bernie Marcus and Blank, each recently invested $20 million from their respective foundations into the Gary Sinise Foundation, specifically the Avalon Network.

There aren’t many owners in the NFL who put their money where their mouth is like Blank. Though the Falcons have never won anything sigincant in his tenure as owner, Blank has done a fine job representing the franchise well.