A switch flips when Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London steps onto an NFL field. His easygoing demeanor and infectious smile quickly fade once the wideout leaves the sideline. When it’s time to ball, the London who his teammates all know and love all but disappears, and is replaced by an alter ego who thrives on menacing competitiveness and physicality.
The duality of London’s approach is working for him.
The fourth-year Falcons player is riding the wave of his best season with the organization, recording a staggering 100 catches for 1,271 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns last season.
“You know how we feel about Drake: He’s a stud on the field,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said during the NFL draft.
“Obviously, he’s a good man off the field, but he blacks out when it’s time to play and when it’s time to compete, and he will do anything he can to rip your face off and win the game. That’s who he is, and that’s what we want.”
His head coach got a firsthand look at London’s approach last week at training camp. Despite his efforts, Raheem Morris never stood a chance at stopping the eighth overall pick of the 2022 player draft.
During 1-on-1 drills, Morris lined up against London, looking to press the wideout as a faux defensive back. However, one quick two-handed push off by No. 5 sent Morris earthbound as the coach quickly became London’s next victim.
“I promise you I’m the nicest person off the field. When the game starts, I kind of go dark,” said London, per Adnan Ikic of The Falcoholic on X, formerly Twitter.
The Falcons’ No. 1 receiver has shown growth each year, climbing from an average receiving catch rate of 61.5% for 866 yards in 2022 to 62.7% for 905 yards in 2023. After a stellar performance in 2024, Atlanta exercised a fifth-year option to lock in London through 2026.
At Tuesday’s joint practice with the Tennessee Titans, Fontenot responded with laughter when asked by CNN about London’s “villain arc.”
He expressed how well the 24-year-old devotes himself to the game, refraining from distractions as minor as a high-five. Even at practice, London glares at his teammates with darkness in his eyes, “You are my enemy!”
Atlanta safety Jessie Bates III acknowledged “Drizzy Drake,” aka London, as a quiet guy whose competitiveness shines through when it’s time to snap the ball.
“Drake, he’s the true definition of ‘Drake London,’ and then there’s a whole other Drake London on the field. That’s how you got to be in the game of football,” he said.
The star safety then shared how he, too, has a different side of himself that he separates for football. He is no longer Jessie Bates on the field; he becomes “JB3.”
“Jessie Bates is a father,” Bates said. “I got nephews, nieces, I’m an uncle. And then it’s like. When I get on that field, it’s like me versus everybody, along with my teammates obviously.”
The eight-year pro mirrors London’s ability to tap into a different mindset.
“There’s an alter ego that you’ve got to have if you want to be great in this game,” he said.
That JB3 persona is certainly leaving a mark on the Falcons’ defense. Bates finished the 2024 season ranked No. 4 in forced fumbles and No. 10 in interceptions in the NFL, recording four of each. The veteran is embracing a leadership role and said he likes to set an example for the younger guys through his actions on the field.
Atlanta’s defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich, said he counts on Bates and others to find what it takes to flip a switch and become the ultimate disruptors.
“You’ve got to have a mindset that when you cross that white line, that you become a different person in a lot of ways,” Ulbrich said. “Because there’s a level of aggression and violence and physicality that you have to be a part of — you know, inflict on people that is not natural to being just a normal human being.”
Every great defense has that type of unnatural DNA, and across the entire team, Ulbrich expressed to CNN.
The Falcons will surely welcome an abnormal season led by a pair of players with “second selves,” having been mired in a yearly struggle to achieve a winning season, let alone a playoff appearance.
Atlanta, which hasn’t clinched a postseason spot since the 2017 season, hosts the Titans on Friday night in a preseason tilt at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.