View source for Jeff Van Note

{{Short description|American football player (born 1946)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Jeff Van Note
| image       = <!-- Only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people -- see [[WP:NONFREE]]. -->
| image_size  =
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| position    = [[Center (American football)|Center]]
| number      = 57
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1946|2|7|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[South Orange, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date  = 
| death_place = 
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 2
| weight_lbs  = 247
| high_school = St. Joseph Prep {{nowrap|([[Bardstown, Kentucky]])}}
| college     = [[Kentucky Wildcats football|Kentucky]]
| draftyear   = 1969
| draftround  = 11
| draftpick   = 262
| pastteams   =
* [[Atlanta Falcons]] ([[1969 NFL season|1969]]–[[1986 NFL season|1986]])
| highlights  =
* 2× Second-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1979 All-Pro Team|1979]], [[1982 All-Pro Team|1982]])
* 6× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1975 Pro Bowl|1974]], [[1976 Pro Bowl|1975]], [[1980 Pro Bowl|1979]]–[[1983 Pro Bowl|1982]])
* [[Atlanta Falcons#Ring of Honor|Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor]]
* Second-team [[List of All-SEC football teams|All-SEC]] ([[1966 All-SEC football team|1966]])
| statlabel1  = Games played
| statvalue1  = 246
| statlabel2  = Games started
| statvalue2  = 226
| statlabel3  = Fumbles recovered
| statvalue3  = 4
| pfr         = V/VanNJe00 
}}
'''Jeffrey Aloysius Van Note''' (born February 7, 1946<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080118152418/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=VANNOJEF01 Jeff Van note]}}, database Football. Accessed December 23, 2007.</ref>) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[center (American football)|center]] for the [[Atlanta Falcons]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL) during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.  He played [[college football]] for the [[Kentucky Wildcats football|Kentucky Wildcats]].  The Falcons selected him in the 11th round of the [[1969 NFL draft]].

==College career==
Van Note played at the [[University of Kentucky]], where he was a [[running back]] and [[defensive end]] for the [[Kentucky Wildcats football]] team from 1966 to 1968.

==Professional career==
Van Note was drafted as a [[linebacker]] by the [[Atlanta Falcons]] in the 11th round—the 269th overall pick of the [[1969 NFL draft]]. During the 1969 season, he played minor league football with the [[Alabama Hawks|Alabama (Huntsville) Hawks]] of the [[Continental Football League]].

Van Note soon moved to [[Center (American football)|center]] by Falcons head coach [[Norm Van Brocklin]].  Despite his modest draft status and lack of experience in the position, Van Note established himself as one of the finest centers in the NFL, making six Pro Bowls and helping the young Atlanta franchise to some of the greatest seasons in team history.  His 18-year tenure with the Falcons is one of the 25 longest in NFL history and is the second longest while staying with the same team.  He played in 246 games over this stretch, and his 225 games started as a Falcon is second in team history to [[Mike Kenn]].  Van Note missed a mere four games in his entire NFL career.

In his final home game at [[Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium]] on December 14, 1986, the Falcons honored Van Note and presented him a [[57 Chevy]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Tim|last=Wheatley|title=Van Note's Journey Ends in Tears|date=December 15, 1986|newspaper=The Columbus Enquirer|page=C-3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/ledger-enquirer/142646991/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=March 4, 2024}}</ref>  He would also be voted by fans as the franchise's favorite player during the Falcons' 25th Anniversary season in 1991.  Van Note would be inducted into the [[Georgia Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1999.

==Broadcasting career==
After retiring from professional football, Van Note served as [[color commentator]] on the Atlanta Falcons and Kentucky Wildcats football broadcasts throughout the 1990s.  Throughout this period, he would also frequently be heard on Atlanta airwaves as a sports-talk radio host.

Van Note also spent time alongside [[Joe McConnell]] as the color commentator for the [[Tennessee Oilers]] in 1997.

Van Note gave up his commentator positions with both teams following the 2003 season, but was called back into regular duty when [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech]] football analyst [[Kim King]] was unable to call games and later died in the fall of 2004.

Though no longer occupying the Falcons' play-by-play booth, he has continued to appear weekly on the Falcons' radio broadcasts, hosting a studio pre-game show and taking calls following the game.

Van Note called the University of Kentucky/Middle Tennessee State game with Tom Leach on UK radio in September 2008, filling in for regular commentator Jeff Piecoro.

==Honors==
* 4 time All-NFC ([[UPI]]) - 1975, 1980–1982
* 6 time Pro-Bowler - 1974–1975, 1979–1982
* 2 time 2nd Team All-Pro ([[Associated Press|AP]]) - 1979, 1982
* Induction into the American Football Association's Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame - 1984<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.americanfootballassn.com/forms/2010HallofFameListing.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-08-28 |archive-date=2016-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122083011/http://www.americanfootballassn.com/forms/2010HallofFameListing.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Participant in the collegiate Blue-Gray All-Star game
* Falcons Ring of Honor - 2006
* Harris Poll Voter - 2011

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.gshf.org Georgia Sports Hall of Fame]
*[http://www.americanfootballassn.com/ American Football Association]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Note, Jeff}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American football centers]]
[[Category:Atlanta Falcons announcers]]
[[Category:Atlanta Falcons players]]
[[Category:Continental Football League players]]
[[Category:Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football announcers]]
[[Category:Kentucky Wildcats football announcers]]
[[Category:Kentucky Wildcats football players]]
[[Category:National Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:NFL announcers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from South Orange, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Essex County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Tennessee Titans announcers]]
[[Category:National Football League Players Association presidents]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Kentucky]]