Falcons alerted to security issues after rash of home burglaries around the NFL

D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Dec 12, 2024

Published in Football

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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — As the Falcons get ready to play on “Monday Night Football” next week, they have to prepare for the Las Vegas Raiders and worry about protecting their homes.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was the latest NFL player to have his home burglarized while playing Monday night.

Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Jason Kelce had their home burglarized in October while playing on a Monday night. After those burglaries, the NFL issued a security alert to all of the team security directors and the NFLPA on Nov. 20 against organized and skilled criminals who are targeting the homes of professional athletes.

The Falcons already had met with their players concerning security measures. Also, the team has had some issues.

“Yeah, I had a break-in before,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “It’s something that happened. You’ve got to take care of your stuff. When you are somebody, people know who you are. You have to take the right (measures) and be aware to protect yourself and your family.”

In a social-media post, Jarrett referred to a watchdog that helped to thwart a robbery.

“It’s definitely unfortunate what’s going on,” Jarrett said. “The league sent out the memo, but I’ve definitely been through it. You just have to prepared and equip yourself for whatever.

Kicker Younghoe Koo also had a burglary of his Alpharetta home, where a vehicle and his specialized cleats were stolen.

Also, former Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley cited a home invasion as part of the reason that lead to his mental-health issues during the 2021 season.

Former Falcons cornerback Robert Alford also had his home burglarized.

“It just disturbs me that we are so public,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “We have to find a way to protect our players. It just made me upset to hear about Burrow getting robbed on Monday night football. Burrow. Everybody in America knows where Burrow is. We have to find ways to protect our guys. Find a way to do it in a better way.”

Morris plans to address the situation in team meetings this week.

“For us, it’s something we are definitely going to address in our team meeting,” Morris said. “Something that we can apply to our security team and what we need to do to our houses and homes to protect our families.”

The alert issued from NFL Security offered a number of recommendations, including not posting on social media in real time, installing security systems and keeping valuables out of plain view.

“It’s something that is scary to be quite honest with you,” Morris said. “For me it just makes me sick. I just don’t want to have anybody period, especially the people that you’re responsible for, to take guys on road games and being worried about things of those nature.”

Morris, who was an assistant coach with the Falcons from 2015-20 and interim head coach for part of 2020, was aware of the local burglaries.

“I think it happened a couple of years ago, when I was here with a couple of guys,” Morris said. “Grady was after I was gone. I heard about that one. Ridley was after I was gone. I heard about that. Rocky Alford was my neighbor, and he was playing in Arizona, and he got his house robbed. I had to call him in Arizona.”

Falcons safety Jessie Bates III played for the Bengals and knows Burrow.

“I think we’ve got great people all around this building,” Bates said. “(Our security director) does a good job of keeping us updated on what is going on. Obviously, that has been a focal point this year.”

The burglaries are believed to be tied to a South American crime syndicate, according to NFL.com. The burglars are nonconfrontational and do not burglarize homes while residents are inside.

They reportedly use public records to find players’ addresses and conduct extensive surveillance before making a move. They track teams’ schedules and social-media accounts of the players and their families and wait until the homes are empty — normally, during games.

“As a father,” Bates said, “as a family guy, you just make sure that you’ve got everything in line. If you’re not there to protect your love ones, make sure that you have security there. ... That’s a serious matter.”

The Falcons plan to take extra measures to help their players.

“Being able to target these players, target their movements, it is something that we have to take a look at probably as a league, definitely as a team,” Morris said. “We’ll do that.”