Atlanta Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson was inspired by a postgame speech head coach Kevin Stefanski gave to the team after an embarrassing Week 2 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Robinson was so inspired, in fact, that he said Stefanski’s speech gave him thoughts of Martin Luther King Jr., who is widely considered to be one of the great orators in human history.
“I don’t know if he drank coffee or something,” Robinson told the Amazon Prime broadcast crew after the Falcons defeated the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, “but he said this speech it was like Martin Luther King Jr. was in there.”
We will have to wait and see if video of Stefanski’s postgame speech ever emerges, but it must have been remarkable if Robinson really felt like King was in the room.
Whatever was said, it appeared to work for the Falcons in Green Bay on Thursday night, as Atlanta dominated the Packers to win 35-14 at Lambeau Field.
Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. made his NFL season debut in the victory after he missed the 0-2 start to the year due to recovery from a torn ACL. After throwing an interception on the opening drive of the game, Penix bounced back to complete 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown pass.
Robinson stole the show, however, totaling 219 all-purpose yards and scoring two touchdowns to lead the Falcons to victory. It was the first win of the season for the Falcons after the offense looked moribund with third-string quarterback Cooper Rush starting the first two games.
The running back comparing Stefanski’s postgame speech to King led to some interesting reactions on social media after the quote went viral.
“I have a dream, that one day Cooper Rush will no longer be our QB,” Instagram user @nflmemes_ig joked about what should have been included in Stefanski’s postgame speech — referencing King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech from 1963.
“Im a let that slide cuz he had 200 yards last night,” Instagram user @iamspencerneal added.
“We don’t know how to win and just be normal,” Falcons fan and Instagram user @mikeclay1 chimed in.
After seeing his quote go viral and the reaction to it, Robinson added another comment Friday afternoon on Instagram in response. It seems like the running back realizes he may have been a bit too hyperbolic in the moment.
“Yup I just be saying stuff sometimes lol,” Robinson wrote. “Awesome speech for the Guys tho.”
