FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Arthur Blank looked at the sign on the wall, the one that Bobby Petrino put up in the team meeting room after he was hired to coach the Atlanta Falcons.

It lists the traits Petrino wanted out of his players, wrapping up with a most telling word:

Finish.

"I don't think quitting after 13 games is equal to the word 'Finish,"' Blank said, not even bothering to hide his sarcasm.

The owner of the Falcons wasn't the only one who felt betrayed after Petrino skipped town with three games left in his first season as an NFL head coach.

The guys who were playing for Petrino less than 48 hours earlier arrived at the Falcons' suburban training complex Wednesday to find an 86-word farewell from their ex-leader, who bailed on a 3-10 season to take the coaching job at Arkansas.

That was it. No face-to-face meeting. No phone calls. Just a short letter that had all the warmth of a credit-card solicitation.

"I feel like I've been sleeping with the enemy," safety Lawyer Milloy griped.

The Falcons watched Petrino on television the previous day, yukking it up at a giddy, late-night news conference in Arkansas, then unloaded on him for the way he abandoned the team. Words like "quitter" and "coward" flowed easily off everyone's lips, from outspoken players such as DeAngelo Hall to the mild-mannered ones like Warrick Dunn.