ATLANTA -- No one expected the Atlanta Falcons to be in the Super Bowl. Even the NFL was caught off guard.

	Morten Andersen's kick Sunday produced a shocking development.

Coach Dan Reeves was grinning with satisfaction Monday as he discussed his dealings with the league after the Falcons shocked the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game.

On Sunday, following Atlanta's 30-27 overtime victory, Reeves met with two NFL officials about the schedule of events at the Jan. 31 Super Bowl in Miami. He couldn't help but notice the itinerary was sprinkled with references to the Vikings.

Then, on Monday, the NFL faxed Reeves a memo that included another faux pas.

"You could tell they weren't expecting us because it said, 'Atlanta Falcons, head coach Denny Green,' " Reeves said, grinning with satisfaction. "They had changed the team from Minnesota Vikings, but they forgot to change the head coach."

Well, get used to the idea of Atlanta playing in the Super Bowl, as strange as that might seem for a franchise that's had only eight winning seasons in 33 years.

Defending champion Denver is an early seven-point favorite in the Super Bowl, which doesn't bother the Falcons a bit. They have reveled in the role of underdog all season, beating a Minnesota team that was a double-digit favorite.

"The whole country had them beating us by 11 points, had them on top of the world," tight end O.J. Santiago said. "Every time I looked at the TV, it seemed like Minnesota was on there. There's nothing wrong with that. They broke a lot of records.

"But at 14-2 (Atlanta's record during the regular season), you think somebody would notice we've got a good team. Now, maybe they will notice us."

Oh, they're noticing -- especially in Atlanta, where the city awoke this week with a giant "Dirty Bird" hangover.

The party spilled into the streets as soon as Morten Andersen's kick sailed through the uprights, then moved to Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, where the team was greeted by more than 5,000 people late Sunday evening.

"You felt like you were in a dream world," said linebacker Jessie Tuggle, who has been with the Falcons for a dozen, mostly losing seasons.

Another 4,000 or so revelers jammed the team's suburban training complex, creating a rush hour-like traffic jam in the middle of the night. The scene was surreal when the players, after taking buses from the airport, appeared on a second-floor balcony, saluting the crowd that had taken over the practice field below.

"It was absolutely nuts," Tuggle said. "It was like a rock concert in Suwanee, Ga."

Reeves, who underwent heart bypass surgery just five weeks ago, endured a whirlwind schedule Monday. After getting only 4½ hours of sleep, he appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America," stopped by Piedmont Hospital for a routine checkup, and held his usual postgame news conference in Suwanee. The team will begin practicing for the Broncos on Wednesday.

Much of the Super Bowl focus will be on Reeves, who will be facing the team he coached for 12 years and took to three title games. He'll also be facing the coach he fired for alleged subordination and the quarterback who said playing for Reeves was "hell."

Reeves, fired by the Broncos after the 1992 season, insisted Monday that he has buried any hard feelings for Mike Shanahan and John Elway.

"I don't live in the past," the Falcons coach said. "If you're going to be a football coach and you preach and teach to the players that they should look to the next play and not think about the last one, I think you have to go through life the same way."

Reeves said there was a reconciliation of sorts last summer, when by chance all three wound up playing golf on the same day at Augusta National. The Atlanta coach congratulated Shanahan and Elway on their Super Bowl victory.

"What's done in the past is done," Reeves said. "I can look myself in the mirror and say I did what was best for my football team at the time. You have to make some tough decisions. I can't change them."

Besides, there are new debts to pay.

Reeves, who turns 55 today, promised to perform the "Dirty Bird" dance in downtown Atlanta if the Falcons made the Super Bowl. He claims he did just that in the pre-dawn hours Monday, stopping his car along Peachtree Street and flapping his arms.

There's only one problem: he had no witnesses.

"I didn't say how long, and I didn't say when, so I did it this morning," Reeves said with a smile. "It was 6:45, and there was nobody on the road. That's why I did it, and I did it goooood."

Falcons receiver Terance Mathis, who caught the touchdown pass that sent the game to overtime, wasn't buying Reeves' version of events.

"That's a copout, man," Mathis said with a laugh. "He could have at least called the media and alerted them. That doesn't count. We're going to make him do it."