Matt Ryan (American football)

Matt Ryan

Ryan in November 2008
Atlanta Falcons
Career information
College:	Boston College
NFL draft:	2008 / round: 1 / pick: 3
Career history
Atlanta Falcons (2008–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
MPC Computers Bowl MVP (2005) ACC Player of the Year (2007) Manning Award (2007) Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (2007) AP Offensive Rookie of the Year (2008)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2008
TD–INT: 16-11 Passing yards: 3,440 QB Rating: 87.7 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Matthew Thomas Ryan (born May 17, 1985 in Exton, Pennsylvania) is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He was drafted by the Falcons third overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Boston College. His nickname is Matty Ice.

From the 2005 season through 2007, he was the Eagles' starter, leading them to three bowl victories and a 25-7 record in 32 starts. He threw for 200 or more yards 15 times and is fifth all-time in school history in passing yards and in pass completions. He also earned MVP honors at the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl. In 2007, Ryan led his team to an ACC Atlantic Division championship and was named ACC Player of the Year. He has also earned honors as the 2008 NFL AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

High School career

Ryan attended the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was a three-year starter for coach Brian McCloskey, earned All-East honors from Larunt Lemming Prep Football Report. He captured All-Southeastern Pennsylvania accolades as a senior quarterback in addition to receiving All-City first-team honors in 2002 and second-team recognition in 2001. A three-time All-League selection, he threw for more than 1,300 yards with 9 touchdowns as a senior, finishing his career by completing more than 52 percent of his pass attempts during all three seasons at the helm. Ryan played football, basketball and baseball while in high school and was named captain of all three teams his senior year. He was quarterback of the football team in 2002, played small forward on the basketball team, and was as a pitcher and shortstop on the baseball team.

College career

2004 season

Ryan redshirted in the 2003 season. Before the 2004 season, he was named backup due to an injury to Quinton Porter. He saw his first action on October 2, 2004 against the UMass Minutemen. He completed two of three passes for 16 yards. He completed his first touchdown on November 20, 2004 against Temple on a 32-yard completion to Larry Lester. Replacing the injured Paul Peterson, he completed eight of 15 passes for 121 yards. He made his first collegiate start on November 27, 2004 in the final game of that season, completing 24 of 51 passes for 200 yards against Syracuse. He also played against North Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl. He completed one of his two passes for 13 yards. Matt was also quite proficient in the classroom, and was awarded the 2004 Freshman Male Scholar-Athlete award that same year.

2005 season

At the beginning of the 2005 season, Ryan was named the second string quarterback behind Quinton Porter. Porter had some success at the beginning of the year, including winning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the week for his performance in Boston College's 28–17 win over Virginia. After a 30–10 loss to third-ranked Virginia Tech, coach Tom O'Brien finally went to Ryan for good in the 4th Quarter of the next game against North Carolina. In ten games (five starts), he completed 121 of 195 passes for 1,514 yards. He had eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He also had five rushing touchdowns and 94 yards. He started his first bowl game in the MPC Computers Bowl versus Boise State. He completed 19 of 36 passes for 256 yards and a career-best three touchdowns.

2006 season

Ryan started 11 of 12 games. He completed 243 of 398 passes for 2,700 yards, 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also ran for three touchdowns. He was All-ACC first-team and led the ACC in total offense (242.2 yards per game) and in passing yards (245.5 yards per game). He was named ACC Offensive Back of the week 3 times. He set career highs in completions (32 vs. Central Michigan) and passing yards (356 vs. Brigham Young). He led the team to a 9-3 record including double overtime wins versus Clemson and Brigham Young. He led the Eagles to a close 25-24 victory on December 30, 2006 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Navy in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the season opener against Central Michigan, Ryan sprained his ankle. Against Virginia Tech, Ryan broke his foot on the same leg. Despite these injuries, Ryan only missed one game (against Buffalo). .His 57 pass attempts in the 2006 Wake Forest game tied Shawn Halloran vs. Syracuse Orange in 1985 and Frank Harris vs. Army in 1968 for the BC record his 40 pass completions in the 2006 Wake Forest game broke the old school record of 37 by Frank Harris in the 1968 Army clash.

2007 season

Ryan and the Boston College Eagles line up on offense on the 2007 ACC Championship game

Before the season started Ryan was named to the preseason All-ACC team. Against Wake Forest, he completed 32 of 52 passes for 408 yards and 5 touchdowns. He continued his hot streak versus Georgia Tech, going 30-44 with 1 TD and passing for a career-high 435 yards against the staunch Tech defense en route to a convincing 24-10 road victory. After this game, Ryan was suggested as a potential Heisman Trophy contender. Battling Virginia Tech through bad weather in Blacksburg, Virginia, Matt Ryan led an amazing comeback for the Boston College Eagles passing for two touchdowns with less than 3 minutes to play on October 25, 2007. However, Matt Ryan's chances to win the Heisman fell sharply after he threw three interceptions in a 17-27 loss to Florida State, an unranked team that had six wins and three losses. However with a strong performance against Clemson his chances were raised substantially. Despite 2 consecutive ACC losses, Ryan and the Eagles found themselves with a trip to the conference championship on the line. Down 10-3 in the third quarter, he led the offense on a game-tying drive, hitting on key passes to Rich Gunnell, Andre Callender and Ryan Purvis , landing the Eagles at the Clemson 2 early in the fourth. James McCluskey finished the job from there, running it in to even the score at 10-apiece. Shortly thereafter, a Clemson turnover resulted in a BC field goal and a 13-10 lead for the maroon and gold . On November 24, against ACC rival Miami, Ryan surpassed Doug Flutie for the most passing touchdowns in a single season by an Eagle QB with 28 TD's, ultimately ending the season with 31. Despite these records, he struggled with throwing interceptions throughout the year, and finished with 19 (2nd most among college quarterbacks).His five touchdown passes in the 2007 Wake Forest game are one shy of the school record of six, held by Doug Flutie in 1984 vs North Carolina. For the maroon and gold, it was their first 10-win regular season since 1940 and the first time they had achieved back-to-back 10-overall-win seasons in program history. He led the Eagles to extend the nation's longest bowl winning streak to eight with a 24-21 victory over Michigan State Spartans in the Champs Sports Bowl on December 28 , Ryan threw three touchdown passes, two to Rich Gunnell and one to Jon Loyte . Matt Ryan was awarded the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually in the United States to the Nation's most outstanding college football senior quarterback , the other finalists for the 2007 award were Hawaii's Colt Brennan, Louisville's Brian Brohm , Oregon's Dennis Dixon and Kentucky's Andre Woodson ,( all of them drafted at the 2008 NFL Draft ) He was selected to play in the 2007 Senior Bowl. He also won the 2007 Manning Award awarded to the nation's top quarterback , beating out eventual heisman winner Tim Tebow and eight other finalists for this year's award: Erik Ainge (Tennessee), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Colt Brennan (Hawaii), Chase Daniel (Missouri), Dennis Dixon (Oregon), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech), Patrick White (West Virginia) and Andre' Woodson (Kentucky). Also he was named "Eagle of the Year" alongside BC's first ever individual champion Kasey Hill , in November, he was asked to talk at the Boston College Multi-Cultural Thanksgiving celebration where he spoke of family, integrity and devotion.

Professional career

2008 NFL draft

Ryan scored a 32 on the Wonderlic exam, tying Louisville's Brian Brohm for the highest score by a quarterback in 2008. . He was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2008 NFL Draft. He was the second first-round pick of the year to sign when he agreed to a six-year contract on May 20. The contract had an overall value of $72 million and contained $34.75 million in guaranteed money. The contract made Ryan the 4th highest paid player in the NFL behind Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Carson Palmer despite never having played a professional game. This helped fuel the discussion regarding whether rookies in the NFL were overpaid and if there is a need for a rookie salary cap. In addition, Ryan has signed endorsement deals with Nike and AirTran. He entered the 2008 season competing against former starter Chris Redman for the Falcons' starting quarterback position. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan and New England linebacker Jerod Mayo have taken the NFL's top rookie honors.

Atlanta Falcons

2008 season

On August 24, Ryan was named the starting quarterback for the September 7 regular season opener against the Detroit Lions becoming the first rookie quarterback to start a season for the Falcons since Steve Bartkowski in 1975. In the game, Ryan completed his first NFL pass for a 62-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins, becoming the first quarterback to throw a touchdown on his first career NFL pass since Michael Bishop of the New England Patriots in 2000. Ryan was sacked for the first time by Lions defensive player Dewayne White in his first win. The second game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers marked Ryan's first interception by rookie cornerback Aqib Talib and also by Sabby Piscitelli. In week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs, he completed the longest TD pass in his career for 70 yards to Roddy White. The 70-yard touchdown pass to White is the longest pass completion for the Falcons since December 23, 2007, when Chris Redman threw a 74-yard touchdown pass. In the same game Ryan completed passes to 6 different players. The following week, he had his best career single game performance to date against the Green Bay Packers, throwing for 194 yards and two TDs to Roddy White and tight end Justin Peelle. The following week against the Chicago Bears Ryan lead the Falcons to a comeback win. With 6 seconds left he completed a 26-yard strike to Michael Jenkins that set Jason Elam up for the game-winning field goal as time expired. Ryan finished the game 22-of-30 for a career-high 301 passing yards. He also had a key fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Roddy White. On Atlanta's first offensive drive, Ryan completed all five of his pass attempts for 57 yards en route to a Falcons field goal and a 3–0 lead. Ryan was named Diet Pepsi Rookie of the week for his performance.

Ryan takes a snap against the Raiders on November 2.

On October 30th, Ryan was honored as the NFC Rookie of the Month for October following an impressive string of games in which he led the Falcons to a 2–1 record. Ryan became the first player in Atlanta Falcons franchise history to be awarded this honor. In week 8 against the Oakland Raiders, Ryan finished with the highest completion percentage of his career (77.3). He threw for 220 yards and posted a quarterback rating of 138.4. He also completed passes to eight different receivers and the game was his third multiple touchdown game (Green Bay, Philadelphia). His first half passing yardage, completion percentage (81.3) and passer rating (154.2) are all career highs for a half and his two touchdowns tie a first half high, Ryan’s final completion percentage of 77.3 is a career-high along with his passer rating of 138.4. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week following his performance against the Raiders . He scored his first rushing TD against the New Orleans Saints in December 7 with a 12-yard touchdown scramble , Ryan also achieved 3000+ passing yards in the 2008 season being only the 2nd rookie to do so. Peyton Manning was the first. Ryan became the first Falcons rookie quarterback in franchise history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season after finishing with 206 yards against Tampa Bay , Ryan’s passing total also makes him only the 10th quarterback in club annals to hit the 3,000-yard mark and the first since 1998 when Chris Chandler threw 3,154 . It was also his first overtime win as a starter. He was named the Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week for games played after his perfomance by second time in his carrer . . Ryan finished second amongst rookies in fan Pro Bowl voting (416,468 votes) , only behind Titans Runningback Chris Johnson . Ryan threw for a season-low 134 yards Week 16 against Minnesota Vikings, ending a streak of nine straight games with at least 200 yards passing , he finished 13-of-24 passing, throwing an 8-yard touchdown passes to Jerious Norwood in the second quarter, however with this win Ryan lead the Falcons to their first playoff berth since 2004.

He finished the season with 3,440 passing yds, 17 touchdowns (one rushing), and only 11 interceptions. He and fellow rookie Joe Flacco were the first rookie quarterbacks to lead their teams to the playoffs after starting all 16 games of the season. He is also one of the two rookie quarterbacks to throw for over 3,000 yards in their rookie season (the other being Peyton Manning). On December 31, Ryan was named the AP NFL Rookie of the Year .

Ryan made his first playoff start against the Arizona Cardinals in January 3 , 2009 . Ryan completed 26 of 40 passing attemps for 199 yards and 2 TDs but was intercepted twice , he threw his first TD in a playoff contest to Justin Peelle . Atlanta lost the game 30-24 .

Personal

Ryan is the third son of Bernice and Michael Ryan's four children. He is nicknamed by his teammates as "Matty Ice" . He is dated with Sarah Marshall , she is a former Guard of the Boston College Womens basketball team. Him and his brother were once in a car accident that left his brother with injuries that disabled him from playing football

External links

• Atlanta Falcons bio
• Boston College Eagles bio
• Fan Site

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