Rich Graessle/Getty Images
Former Falcons running back Devonta Freeman is going viral after “Liking” a tweet suggesting that then Falcons’ offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, intentionally tanked Super Bowl 51 against the Patriots.
The tweet claims that Shanahan deliberately lost the game to help set up a trade for Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, once Kyle assumed the role of head coach for the 49ers after the Super Bowl.
This is wild: Ex-#Falcons starting RB Devonta Freeman "Liked" a tweet which said then Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan tanked the #Patriots Super Bowl 51 and lost on purpose in order to get Jimmy Garoppolo via trade to San Francisco once he took over as head coach.
It seems very… pic.twitter.com/QbWAs1NFcy
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 4, 2023
Of course, this theory seems far-fetched, especially given the widely known fact that Shanahan was keen on signing Kirk Cousins, then with the Washington Commanders.
I guess it’s worth noting that the Falcons managed to put up 28 points by the beginning of the third quarter but failed to score again throughout the remainder of the game.
Curiously, they also opted for passing plays in the 4th quarter, even when they were within field goal range, only to be sacked and get out of it.
But this is just conspiracy theory, and might just be Freeman’s way of making sense of the devastating Super Bowl loss, in which the Altana infamously led 28-3.
It’s 2023 now; maybe it’s time to let go of the past and move on, right?