Falcons Owner Arthur Blank Is No Fan of ESports: Report

Getty Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank reacts in the second half of an NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams.

Atlanta Falcons bye week means the strangest stories evolve, including this one on Falcons owner Arthur Blank who wants nothing to do with competitive gaming.

Not sure how this even came about, but Blank just rambled on and one about how much he is not a fan of E-Sports, via Fox News.

Blank Shares His Views

Blank made it clear these were his own personal views and don’t take it to the heart. Blank

“[My] own personal view, and this is a personal view, is that sitting in front of one of these electronic video game kind of things, where you have to develop the skill set for x number of hours a day, is just not in keeping with what I think is the best part of healthy young mind growing up,” Blank said.

Blank was even offered to invest in gaming, but decided against it, obviously.

“I remember the example was that when a company came in and made their presentation, one of the slides was a young man who may have been … maybe 11, 12 years old, made, I don’t know, some incredible amount of money, something like 500,000 bucks — just awful, awful amount of money,” Blank said. “But they were clear he was practicing nine, 10 hours a day. And so I said to myself, ‘Listening to this, do I really want to invest in a business and own a business that is going to encourage behavior that I wouldn’t want to encourage in my own children?’ And the answer is no.”

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Gaming Grows Bigger Due to Pandemic

With no sports during the Nationwide lockdown, competitive gaming grew bigger and bigger within those three months.

Stimulus Madden games were being broadcast and people were getting on them. Heck, they even had real commentators. Still, Blank can’t seem to get behind it.

“I’m not being critical of somebody else, you know, they make their own decision for their own reasons and their own set of values,” he said. “And beyond, and maybe, some aspects of this, somebody could argue with me and take a different point of view.”

Well, at least future prospects know not to get on the subject of gaming if they want a spot on the roster.

Falcons Backup QB Has Hidden Talent

While we are on the topic of Esports, backup quarterback Kurt Benkert actually has a hidden talent, well not so hidden anymore after winning Best Fortnite Player in the NFL Players Association Open at the beginning of the year.

In his free time, Benkert continues to focuse on his esports career and has become quite successful with it. He often live streams while playing Fortnite and Call of Duty on his Twitch channel. Live streaming gives fans the chance to watch him play and chat with him about anything.

“I really pride myself on talking to the people that watch and interacting in general,” Benkert told The Falcoholic. “I started streaming to be able to bridge the gap between football and video games and to show that us athletes have passions off the field as well. It makes us more relatable and I think you’ll find that by watching me.”

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