Former Insurance Agent Redman Starts Atlanta Falcons Preseason Opener

Chris Redman has edged rookie Matt Ryan and started at quarterback in the Atlanta Falcons’ preseason opener Aug. 9 at Jacksonville, Fla.

Redman was out of the NFL for a while and spent time getting an idea of life in the real world. He found it was a lot more fun playing football than going door to door trying to sell property and casualty insurance to major corporations.

Redman worked as an insurance agent at Garrett Stotz Co., of Louisville, Ky., for several months, according to Don Mucci, one of five agency principles.

Mucci said given more time, Stotz could have been a very successful agent. He said if Redman circles back again after his football career, the agency would be glad to re-employ him.

“Chris is the nicest guy in the world,” Mucci said. “He just wasn’t in it long enough. I think he could have done very well.”

Redman’s ticket back into the league came when the Falcons hired Bobby Petrino as coach before last season.

Redman had gone three years without playing in an NFL game before the Falcons signed him 18 months ago. He started the last four games of 2007, finally earning a victory in the finale of Atlanta’s 4-12 season.

“Yeah, I’m excited,” Redman said. “I think it’ll be a good test for our offense. Right now, we just need to go out and compete. I don’t think it means anything. We’ve got four quarterbacks here, so you just go out and compete and see what happens.”

Whoever begins the season as the Falcons’ starting quarterback will need to read coverages precisely and get the ball out of the pocket quickly behind a young and inexperienced offensive line.

Redman is more concerned with making the right reads than trying to second-guess the qualifications of Atlanta’s line.

“When they tell me to go in the game, I’ll go,” Redman said, “and when they tell me to come out, I’ll come out.”

Paul Newberry contributed to this article

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