Falcons Fans React To New NFL Bag Rules

Season ticket holder Gina DeFazio said she received an email about the new rules and a free bag in the mail, courtesy of being a season ticket holder.

“I was at first against it, I like it now,” DeFazio said. “It holds everything I need to take to the football game and I don’t have to unpack it and repack it. It’s my football purse.”

Judy Evans brought a small hand purse to the game, though she said she’s not a fan of the rules. Her friend Charles Robinson, however, said they make sense.

“I want to be able to carry my makeup,” Evans said.

“You’re going to a football game. You’re going to a football game, ladies. You know?” countered Robinson.

“If I had, I’m not going to say my personal items, all that information, but I want to be able to keep it in here.” Evans said. “But I’m good. I came prepared.” 

Tracy Recupero, who was toting a black shoulder purse, said the rules could be challenging for women.

“I think it’s extremely ridiculous,” Recupero said. “How about search the bag, call it a day? If I want a big bag or a little bag, we’re females. We need things. You could be on your monthly cycle. You could have a child. There are all sorts of things you could need to put in your purse.”

A spokesperson for the dome said people with bags that did not comply would be turned away. Season ticket holder Todd Helms, who was carrying two small bags, was upset that he might not be able to enter the game.

“What’s the difference?” Helms asked. “Putting them in a handbag, it’s no different to me.”

Recupero echoed that frustration.

“I’m probably going to have to learn the hard way because that is not the size of my purse,” she said.

The NFL says the rules were created to speed up security and improve stadium safety.