Eric Kistler has a flashy ring to show his Davie County friends. The Advance native works for the Atlanta Falcons, and he received a piece of jewelry in July – the NFC Championship ring.

The team that loses the Super Bowl receives either an AFC or NFC Championship ring as a consolation.

“Not the one we wanted but great nonetheless,” Kistler, 38, said. “Not bad for a kid from Cornatzer that never played a down – minus that one year at Shady Grove.”

The son of Marilynn and Richard Kistler, Eric played JV and varsity basketball for the War Eagles. He also ran track and cross country, graduating in 1997.

“My whole family still lives (in Davie County),” he said. “Mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles.”

Kistler has been a Premium Sales Manager for the Falcons for six years.

“I manage the staff that sells all of the suites and club seats,” he said. “I also spent two years with the (Jacksonville) Jaguars and six years in the NHL.”

Interestingly enough, younger brother Nick Kistler “works in sponsorship sales for the Baltimore Orioles.”

Kistler worked at all the 2016 postseason games, which included wins over Seattle and Green Bay and Super Bowl LI, the Falcons’ first Super Bowl appearance since 1999.

He “attends all the home games and I travel to a few away games,” he said. “I don’t travel as much anymore. I used to take clients on the team plane 3-4 games a year.”

In February, Falcon Nation suffered through the worst collapse in Super Bowl history. Atlanta led New England 28-3 with three minutes left in the third quarter. Atlanta was that close to its first Super Bowl title. Then it watched the Patriots rip off 31 unanswered points, winning 34-28 in overtime.

The page has been turned. Now Kistler has the privilege of working in a new 1.5 billion home – Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“If you haven’t seen it yet, it is incredible and by far the nicest stadium in this country – until someone comes along and builds a better one,” he said.