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Reeves glad to be back on sidelines
Posted: Saturday January 09, 1999 08:59 PM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Less than a month after undergoing heart bypass surgery, a somewhat subdued Dan Reeves was back pacing the Atlanta sideline for Saturday's NFC playoff game against San Francisco. "I feel a lot better. I feel excited about where we are," Reeves said following the Falcons' 20-18 victory over the 49ers. The only thing he couldn't really do was scream at the officials, even when he had good cause. "Yell? I can't. My chest is not strong enough, which is good," he said. Except for one controversial call that led to San Francisco's first touchdown, Reeves remained calm throughout, primarily walking along the sideline and often staying some 30-35 yards away from the line of scrimmage. The exception came with 1:57 left in the first half, when San Francisco's Steve Young's backward pass was picked up by the 49ers' Terry Kirby, whose apparent fumble was returned for a touchdown by Atlanta's Chuck Smith. Officials first ruled no TD, but awarded the ball to Atlanta on the San Francisco 45. Reeves took off his headset and appeared to be upset, but when the officials reversed the call and gave the ball to San Francisco, Reeves was obviously upset. He spoke loudly to the officials and kept pointing to the huge television screen behind the end zone showing replays of the play. "The officials called it the way they saw it. I saw it different. But it was a bam-bam play and it didn't look like [Kirby] ever had possession," Reeves said. Referee Jerry Markbreit said of the play: "The play was a backward pass. It was recovered on the ground by San Francisco No. 41, Kirby, and he was touched on the ground when he had possession. The rule is down by contact." The 49ers eventually scored on a 17-yard pass from Young to Jerry Rice with 1:10 left in the second quarter, and San Francisco added a 36-yard field goal by Wade Richey as time ran out in the half, cutting Atlanta's lead to 14-10. The Falcons got second-half field goals from Morten Andersen of 29 and 32 yards. San Francisco's second-half score came on an 8-yard run by Young and a 2-point conversion. Reeves' appearance in the thick of things was almost as surprising as the Falcons making it to the postseason, winning the NFC West (14-2) and playing host to the 49ers (12-4) at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons, 7-9 a year ago, reached the NFC final for the first time in the history of the 33-year-old franchise. It was only their eighth playoff game and their third postseason victory. The Falcons will play the winner of Sunday's Minnesota-Arizona game next weekend for the right to go to the Super Bowl in Miami on Jan. 31. "This is really and truly beyond my wildest dreams," said Reeves, who is in his second year with the Falcons. Reeves, 54, wearing his typical game attire -- white tennis shoes, black pants and black sweater over his Falcons shirt, was on the field an hour before the game, giving interviews. He was right in the middle of the team's pregame practice. When Jamal Anderson scored Atlanta's first touchdown, a 2-yard run in the first quarter, Reeves clapped softly. When Anderson broke loose on a 34-yard TD run in the second quarter for a 14-0 Falcons lead, Reeves, was about 30 yards away on the sideline, again clapping softly, then greeting three Falcons, including Anderson, with a brief handshake. Reeves, who had quadruple bypass surgery on Dec. 14 and was hospitalized again for several days with an accelerated heartbeat, was given a clean bill of health on Monday. He had some protection during the game. Dr. Charlie Harrison, who diagnosed the blockages in Reeves' heart, was always nearby. "Everything was perfectly normal. He was his usual self, just a little reserved," Harrison said. "It was great to have him back," Falcons center Robbie Tobeck said. "You could see the fire back in his eyes." During kickoffs and punt returns, Reeves stood about 15 yards back from the sideline. During certain plays, he was as far away as 65 yards from the play. Reeves missed the final two regular season games, with defensive coordinator Rich Brooks acting as head coach. Last week, he watched two practices from his office window at the team's training camp in Suwanee, but was in charge of three full practices this week at the Dome. "I felt a lot better than I have in the last two months," he said. "My heart is in good shape -- it's just my endurance."
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