200 FEET ABOVE THE MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM FIELD, ATLANTA — Freddie the Falcon, the Atlanta Falcons’ feathery, daredevil mascot, paces around the narrow catwalk high above the east end zone of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He’s wearing a Spider-Man costume — why not? — and he’s strapped in via harness to the latticework of steel that runs all throughout the ceiling of the massive dome.

Perched this high above the field, you can feel the house music rattle the catwalks and rails, which is deeply unsettling when those catwalks and rails are all that separates you from the vast, yawning distance to the field far below. The thump of 3 Doors Down’s “Kryptonite” wobbling your knees and wrapping around your heart will have you cursing whoever invented deep, rumbling bass lines. You look down at your sneakers, and the only thing between them and the seats way down below you is 20 stories of open air.

Freddie the Falcon, the longtime Atlanta mascot who’s developed a new sense of thrilling adventure in the last few seasons, is about to launch himself out into that open air. Safety techs around Freddie are confirming the security of the harness, connections and ropes. There are no acceptable mistakes in this line of work. It’s four hours before kickoff, and we’re in the final dry run for an in-game stunt. The seats are empty and the music has now been silenced, giving this massive stadium a vaguely chilling feel.

Chilling for only some of us, at least. Strapped in and ready, Freddie loosens up, then points directly at me, his enormous falcon eyes holding mine.

“You want to go next?”

No. No, I definitely do not want to go next.

“We’re good to go,” a voice crackles over a microphone.

“Copy that,” says another, standing by Freddie’s side. “Sending talent over the edge.”

Freddie climbs over the fence that separates him from the open air. You know he’s strapped in, you know he’s safe, and yet the act still makes you curdle a bit inside. He gets settled there on the girder, his puffy yellow feet dangling out over the void.

He sits there for more than three minutes, waiting, waiting, waiting for his cue. And then it finally comes. The two safety techs give him a thumbs up. “Good jump, buddy,” one says, and Freddie leans forward until gravity takes hold.

Just like that, Freddie is flying.

Freddie the Falcon makes hundreds of public appearances each year, spreading the gospel of the Falcons all over Atlanta and the surrounding Falcon footprint. He’ll show up at schools, car dealerships, grand openings, maybe even a wedding or bar mitzvah — wherever there’s a need for a little Falcons-related cheer and inspiration, Freddie brings it. He’s the reigning NFL Mascot of the Year, and it’s not just because he’s willing to hurl himself out of the rafters.

In recent years, Freddie’s act has gone three-dimensional — and, not coincidentally, viral — thanks to a lucky confluence of events and locales. First, Freddie is always willing to push the mascot envelope, attempting ever-more-daring stunts to entertain Atlanta’s fans. Second, the Falcons organization hired an innovative mind by the name of Kurt Wisenbaugh as Senior Director of Entertainment and Live Events. And finally, Atlanta plays in the enormous Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which just happens to have that latticework of steel that’s perfect for orchestrating major stunts … like throwing a mascot out of the ceiling.

“From a logistical standpoint and setup standpoints, it’s a perfect stadium,” Kurt says. “It’s a massive stadium. It’s a beautiful stadium. We’ve got the infrastructure in the steel and the catwalk, so it’s set up so that we can do a lot of fun, exciting and different stunts.”

Starting in Jacksonville, where he worked with the infamously chaotic mascot Jaxon DeVille, Kurt began to see the possibilities in live, crowd-pumping stunt entertainment. He spent a few years at the University of Michigan in the same role, then arrived in Atlanta in September 2021. The team had already begun looking to craft larger spectacles for fans, and Wisenbaugh helped usher ideas through the necessary legal, logistical, security, league and insurance approvals to bring them to life, starting with the 2022 season.

“We’re always trying to create moments for fans,” Kurt says. “We’ve always done skits on the field or in the stands, but it’s really trying to create some of that energy in the bowl, create that fear of missing out from people watching at home, showing some of the excitement of the stadium.”

Freddie doesn’t reveal his identity, but let’s just say a gentleman by the name of Jeremy Legg knows Freddie’s ways extremely well — well enough to comment in detail on Freddie’s motivations, hopes and dreams. Jeremy loved watching the exploits of the San Diego Chicken when he was growing up in Nashville, and he went on to don the famed Aubie costume as a student at Auburn. He began working for the Falcons in 2004, worked the sidelines pumping up fans and tormenting refs, and then “one thing led to another, and now [Freddie is] standing on the wrong side of a perfectly good handrail while attached to a rubber band 200 feet off the field.”

Freddie flies with the help of Aerial Concepts, an entertainment company which specializes in this kind of acrobatic daredevil stunt work. Headed by Brett Rhinehardt — he’s the guy who sent the talent over the edge — Aerial Concepts works with many organizations, including several NFL teams, to create spectacular live stunts.

Brett has plenty of experience in this world; he was a mascot for many years, serving as Mr. Wolf for N.C. State, Muddy the Mudcat for the Carolina Mudcats, Nash for the Nashville Predators, and Mariner Moose for the Seattle Mariners. Baseball fans of a certain age will remember one of his most memorable career moments — the time in 1995 when Mariner Moose broke his ankle while “skiing” behind an ATV. The moment was a frequent clip on “SportsCenter” and during baseball rain delays:

However, sports stunt work is not exactly a lifelong career, and so Brett decided to switch from performing stunts to orchestrating them. He created Aerial Concepts, based out of Charlotte, and he’s been working with a small team to create stunts across the country ever since.

He’s found a particular connection with Freddie and the rest of the Falcons organization. “Everybody is on board 100 percent, and that is not always the case,” he says. “It’s it’s easy to find a team where maybe game ops and entertainment has this great idea but engineering and legal push back hard and say, ‘That’s not what we’re doing.’ I’s also easy to find teams that want to do a whole bunch, but there may be an old-fashioned open-air stadium and there’s nothing overhead to connect to, so we just can’t do nearly as much.”

“We all have the goal of creating the best fan experience in the NFL, so it’s very supportive,” Kurt says. “There’s never an idea that someone just shoots down right away. We’ve got to go through the right steps, but everyone understands the vision on why we’re trying to do this.”

Freddie began his stunt work with a straightforward zip line through the stadium, and then the events scaled upward. Hometown legend Ludacris, for instance, did a surprise stunt of his own in November 2023:

“No one saw it coming,” Kurt says. “It was such an impactful moment, with it being the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, and he’s literally coming out of nowhere, performing as he’s rappelling down.”

Not to be outdone in his own building, Freddie upped the ante earlier this year, setting a Guinness world record for the highest indoor rope swing drop:

Later in the season, he zip-lined out to the middle of the stadium, then pulled his own bungee cord and dropped to the field below. “That kind of got my heart racing, because it was quite a free fall,” Kurt recalls. “We knew everything was 100 percent safe, but when you see him freefalling that far, it definitely gets your heart beating.”

Which brings up an interesting point: How exactly does Freddie deal with the height issue? Speaking from up-close — or far-away — experience, it’s a long way down, and very bad thoughts begin to go through your mind very quickly when you’re up there.

“If you were up there just walking the catwalk, you can look over and be like, ‘Dude, that’s a long way down. If I slip and fall, this is gonna be detrimental,’” Jeremy says. “But something happens if you start to put on a harness and gear and a mask and a helmet, and then you’re part of the system.” He notes that he has learned to slow his breathing and, as he puts it, “focus on the outcome rather than the journey.”

For his part, Brett says he never had a fear of heights, but rather “a very healthy respect.”

“To be honest, I lean into that, because it makes sure I never forget to [safety] check twice, three times. When it begins to get too easy and too simple and regular is when accidents can happen. We lean into that nervousness. Getting to the point where you can be nervous and still do it comes from time and repetition.”

For the Falcons’ December game against the Chargers, Freddie performed a two-fer — a reel-in flight from the field up into the rafters, and then a bungee jump right back out of them.

The jump is a success, and Falcons fans greet Freddie warmly — no surprise, given that he’s pretty much the only reliable week-in, week-out figure in a Falcons uniform this season.

In the coming years, Freddie hopes to be able to change direction as he moves across three dimensions, flying over the crowd not unlike a SkyCam. That requires considerable logistical and engineering expertise, but it’s on everyone’s wish list.

“There’s still a lot of options within the structure of the building,” Kurt says. “But then it’s also looking at, can we add some type of special effects to it? Could we add a second person?”

Jeremy shares his enthusiasm and love for innovation. “What show can we put on for the fans? How do we entertain? How do we raise the bar with humor or comedy, or now with excitement or anticipation of these jumps?”

For Freddie, the stunts are all about entertaining the fans, yes, but there’s something more there too. Without going too far over the edge on a bungee-jumping mascot, Freddie’s willingness to leap into the unknown is impressive, thrilling and maybe even a bit … inspirational?

“That first [stunt] was definitely like, ‘What, you want me to throw my leg over this handrail? Are you crazy?’” Freddie recalls, via Jeremy. “After some coaching, I finally got over that handrail. We get these opportunities, and sometimes, we just gotta jump in. We just gotta go.”