Norb Hecker Norbert Earl Hecker ( May 26 , 1927 – March 14 , 2004 ) was an American football player and coach who was part of eight National Football League championship teams , but may be best remembered as the first head coach of the NFL ' s Atlanta Falcons . Early life and career . Born and raised in Olmsted Falls , Ohio , Hecker served in the U . S . Army during World War II , then returned home to attend nearby Baldwin - Wallace College . In his years at the school , he showed himself to be an outstanding athlete by competing in four sports , most notably in football , where he won small college All - American honors in 1950 at wide receiver . After having seen time as a reserve during the previous two years , Hecker caught 34 passes for 646 yards as a senior , including 13 catches in a single game . Professional career . Hecker lived in Olmsted Falls Ohio , and his family still lives there this very day . Hecker was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the sixth round of the 1951 NFL Draft , and during his first season with the team , played on both sides of the ball , missing only one game after suffering a fractured cheekbone . On defense , he returned one turnover for a touchdown that season , but his most important contribution came in the NFL title game on December 23 , when his game - saving tackle helped the Rams defeat the Cleveland Browns , 24 – 17 . During the following off - season , Hecker married Barbara Anne Ritchie on April 4 , a union that would last 46 years until her death . The family ties became even stronger when his brother Bob joined him in the Los Angeles secondary , but Hecker ' s time with the Rams would end after the conclusion of the 1953 NFL season , when , after intercepting seven passes for the year , he was dealt to the Washington Redskins . However , before playing a down with his new team , he signed to play with the Canadian Football League ' s Toronto Argonauts on June 8 , 1954 . After just one season with his new team , the Argonauts released Hecker and the team ' s other American imports on December 14 . After first choosing to stay up north with the Ottawa Rough Riders , Hecker changed his mind and reported to the Redskins ' training camp on August 2 , 1955 . In his first season , he had a team - high six interceptions , returning one for a touchdown . Off the field , Hecker also made an impact as one of 12 players who started the National Football League Players Association in 1956 , briefly serving as the team representative . Hecker closed out his career after two more years of action , scoring another defensive touchdown in 1957 and finishing with 28 interceptions for his career . In addition , he also had two touchdown receptions , while also seeing periodic duty as the team ' s placekicker . Continuing knee troubles played a major role in Hecker ' s release from the Redskins on September 7 , 1958 , with the veteran returning to Canada for one final season as a player - coach with the Hamilton Tiger - Cats . Coaching career . On February 23 , 1959 , Hecker began his coaching career by signing as an assistant under new Green Bay Packers ' coach Vince Lombardi . Inheriting a team that had won just once in 1958 , Lombardi finished with a winning record in his first season , then narrowly missed capturing the NFL title the following year . In each of the next two campaigns , the Packers won the championship , then added another in 1965 . The latter title resulted in Hecker being hired by the expansion Falcons as their first head coach on January 26 , 1966 . Lombardi was initially pursued as the first Atlanta coach , but after deciding to stay with Green Bay , was asked for recommendations for Atlanta ' s first coach . At the time , Lombardi did not recommend Hecker and the Atlanta owner , Rankin Smith Sr . , thinking Lombardi was trying to pull one over on him , decided to hire Hecker . The next three years would be an exercise in frustration for Hecker who managed just four wins in his 31 games at the helm . One bad omen of this misery came in the team ' s first exhibition game when the Falcons ' kicker Wade Traynham completely missed the ball on the kickoff . Following the inaugural 3 – 11 season , the Falcons were plagued by injuries in 1967 and declined to a 1 – 12 – 1 mark , the lone win coming in a one - point mid - season contest against the Minnesota Vikings . When Atlanta began the 1968 NFL season by dropping their first three games , Hecker was fired on October 1 and replaced by former Viking head coach Norm Van Brocklin . After reaching a settlement on the remaining two years of his contract , Hecker accepted the defensive coordinator position with the New York Giants on February 12 , 1969 . He had also been under consideration for a post with the Redskins , who had just hired the previously - retired Lombardi . Following a 6 – 8 season that began with the preseason dismissal of head coach Allie Sherman , the Giants came close to reaching the postseason in 1970 with a 9 – 5 mark . However , when the team slipped to 4 – 10 the next year and gave up 362 points , Hecker was fired on December 23 , 1971 . He resurfaced at Stanford University , first under Jack Christiansen from 1972 to 1976 , then Bill Walsh the next two seasons . When Walsh was hired as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 1979 , Hecker came along as an assistant coach . After struggling for two seasons , the 49ers stunned the NFL by winning the championship in 1981 , capping their turnaround season with a 26 – 21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI . San Francisco would go on to win three more Super Bowl s , with Hecker eventually moving into a front office position until his retirement in 1991 . Hecker closed out his career in 1995 with the Amsterdam Admirals of the World League of American Football , handling both coaching and front office duties . He died of cancer in 2004 .