Local fans make flags for NFL kick-off | News

ATLANTA -- Two local NFL fans made flags for their favorite teams to be featured during football kick-off coverage, to show support for their communities.

Byrn P. Richardson of Norcross designed a flag for the Atlanta Falcons, to capture the team's history. He said his flag would have plenty of red and black, the team's colors, the Falcon mascot and the Atlanta skyline. Richardson's vision comes from a collection of considerations.

"The players who bust their tails on a daily basis and sacrifice valuable family time to improve the team, the owner and management who are willing to do anything they can to better the franchise as a whole, the city in which we play," Richardson said.

Richardson watches sports coverage and reads sports insider articles daily.

The second flag comes from San Francisco 49ers fan Rick Bowie of Atlanta. Bowie described his flag as having the word 'San Francisco' shaped like the Golden Gate Bridge with '49ers' inscribed in the middle of the bridge. The city's sunset would make up the background.

Bowie said, "What inspired my vision was the look that I always see when I'm in San Francisco. I think the Golden Gate Bridge is the single emblem of the Bay Area."

A New York native, Bowie attended his first 49ers game as a young boy.