Profile of Super Bowl-bound Atlanta Falcons

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Profile of the Atlanta Falcons, who will play the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday in Houston. Founded: 1965. Joined the National Football League as an expansion team for a price of $8.5 million, which was the highest price in history at the time for an NFL franchise. - - NFC titles (season): 2 (1998, 2016) - - Super Bowl titles: None. - - Head coach: Dan Quinn. Has the Falcons one win away from the franchise's first Super Bowl title in only his second year as an NFL head coach. Prior to joining Atlanta, Quinn won a Super Bowl with Seattle where he was the team's defensive co-ordinator. - - Starting quarterback: Matt Ryan. Taken third overall in the 2008 NFL Draft, the former offensive rookie of the year is a four-time Pro Bowl selection and frontrunner to take home MVP honors after a regular season in which he completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 4,944 yards, 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions -- a career low by two picks. - - Leading receiver: Julio Jones. Caught 83 passes for 1,409 yards and six touchdowns during regular season. - - Leading rusher: Devonta Freeman. Rushed 227 times for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns during regular season. Also had two receiving touchdowns. - - Fun Facts - Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson worked at the team's former home, Fulton County Stadium, as a vendor during Falcons games, prior to 1991. - Longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback and Hall of Famer Brett Favre started his career with Atlanta, but only attempted four passes, none for completions, before he was traded. - Atlanta failed to post back-to-back winning seasons during their first 40 years in the National Football League. - Falcons are worth an estimated $2.13 billion, 19th among the NFL's 32 teams, according to a September Forbes estimate. - - Famous Falcons of all-time - Deion Sanders: Considered by many to be the one of the all-time best defensive backs to play the game, Sanders will always be known as one of the greatest Falcons ever. Nicknamed "Neon Deion," Sanders was cocky and backed it up on the field. Was one of the NFL's best shut down corners during his career and he also played professional baseball. - Michael Vick: While his tenure with Atlanta didn't end in the best way -- the team cut ties with him while he was serving a prison sentence for running a dogfighting ring -- Vick's speed and escapability made him one of the most dangerous running quarterback in the league as he was able to turn any play into a touchdown from anywhere on the field. - Tommy Nobis: The stellar middle linebacker was the first player drafted by the Falcons and made a quick impact as he was named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year for the 1966 season when he record a club record 294 combined tackles. Known as "Mr. Falcon," Nobis led Atlanta in tackles in nine of his 11 seasons, while earning five trips to the Pro Bowl. - Jeff Van Note: During an 18-year NFL career spent entirely with the Falcons, Van Note went to the Pro Bowl five times and was known a fan favorite. He holds the Falcons team marks for most seasons played (18) and consecutive games played (155) - Jessie Tuggle: Nicknamed "The Hammer" for his bone-jarring tackles, Tuggle joined the Falcons as an undrafted free agent and is the club's all-time leader in total tackles. - - Team name and colors: A public contest resulted in the nickname Falcons and the winner's reasoning was because "the falcon is proud and dignified, with great courage and fight. It never drops prey. It is deadly and has a great sporting tradition." Colors: Black, red, silver white. - - Most famous supporter: Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson is one of the Falcons' most vocal and energetic among the team's celebrity fans. He starred in the team's memorable "Rise Up" campaign. His gameday tweets are also often quite colorful. - - 2016 regular season record: 11-5, won NFC South division Week 1 - vs Tampa Bay, lost 31-24 Week 2 - at Oakland, won 35-28 Week 3 - at New Orleans, won 45-32 Week 4 - vs Carolina, won 48-33 Week 5 - at Denver, won 23-16 Week 6 - at Seattle, lost 26-24 Week 7 - vs San Diego, lost 33-30 (OT) Week 8 - vs Green Bay, won 33-32 Week 9 - at Tampa Bay, won 43-28 Week 10 - at Philadelphia, lost 24-15 Week 11 - bye week Week 12 - vs Arizona, won 38-19 Week 13 - vs Kansas City, lost 29-28 Week 14 - at Los Angeles, won 42-14 Week 15 - vs San Francisco, won 41-13 Week 16 - at Carolina, won 33-16 Week 17 - vs New Orleans, won 38-32 - - NFC playoff seeding: 2 Path to the Super Bowl - First round bye; beat Seattle Seahawks 36-20 in divisional round; beat Green Bay Packers 44-21 in NFC Championship. (Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Andrew Both)