By Phil Stacey
SPORTS EDITOR
—
In his three years of working for a National Football League team thus far, Matt Haley has been around for:
1.) The New England Patriots' perfect regular season of 2007
2.) Tom Brady's season ending injury in the opening quarter of the 2008 season
and
3.) The entire Michael Vick saga as it was unfolding with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009.
So you've got to wonder what's in store for the Atlanta Falcons this fall as the 26-year-old Haley, a Middleton native, has landed his first full-time NFL job with the franchise.
"Hopefully it'll be a Super Bowl win for the Falcons," Haley said with a chuckle last night as he and the rest of the organization prepared for tonight's exhibition game against the Patriots (8 p.m.) at the Georgia Dome.
After a two-year internship with the Patriots and one year as a graduate assistant for the Eagles, Haley has landed a job in Atlanta as the team's Coordinator of Football Communications.
His job entails a little bit of everything and is extremely hands-on. For instance, he'll be handling most of the team's press releases; writing up notes about a particular game for those in the press box; compiling the Falcons' weekly notes book that goes out to the media and working with players and setting up various interview requests.
"I'd much rather work the crazy, hectic NFL schedule than something I didn't love," said Haley, who will be up in the press box for tonight's contest.
"I only got the job right before training camp, so it's been kind of a whirlwind — but it's been great. There's only so many jobs like this, and you have to jump at it when you get the chance.
"Millions and millions of people who follow football are going to be paying attention to something I'll be doing, in the sense that things the commentators will be saying (from the game notes) will come from the releases I produced. I'm incredibly proud of that."
A former cross country and track standout at Masconomet Regional High School who graduated from both Keene State (undergraduate) and Endicott College (graduate) with a degree in sports management, Haley began his NFL journey with his favorite boyhood team. He had a chance to meet Patriots' Director of Media Relations Stacey James in December 2006 when the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA, for whom Haley's father Barry is on the board of directors) held their annual Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium, and the team eventually reached out to him to see could serve, as he put it, as "an extra pair of hands."
"I did all the things they didn't have time to do. It was a great experience," said Haley.
Through James, he heard about an internship with the Eagles, interviewed for the post and got it. His workload and responsibility increased in Philadelphia as he happily soaked it all up.
Eventually, it led to him getting a call from one of the Falcons' public relations people this summer inquiring about Haley's availability.
"Thomas Dimitroff is the GM down here, and he previously worked in New England. Everything he's done down here has been a complete turnaround for the franchise," said Haley of the Falcons, who posted their first-ever back-to-back winning seasons in 2008 and '09.
"I hadn't paid a whole lot of attention to the Falcons beforehand, but once I got down here it was unbelievable. When they offered me a job, there was no way I was turning it down."
Yes, in case you're curious, Haley is still a fan of the Patriots.
He's just a bigger fan of the Falcons now.
