Matt Ryan

Matthew Thomas Ryan (born May 17, 1985) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. Nicknamed "Matty Ice", Ryan spent his first 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and holds the franchise records for passing yards, passing touchdowns, attempts, completions, passer rating, and wins. He played college football at Boston College, where he won the Manning and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards as a senior, and was selected by the Falcons third overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He is also an analyst for CBS Sports. Ryan immediately made an impact by taking the Falcons to the playoffs in his first season, earning him Offensive Rookie of the Year. During his Atlanta tenure, he led the team to six playoff appearances, three of which were division titles, and received four Pro Bowl selections. His most successful season was in 2016 when he was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) and led the Falcons to an appearance in Super Bowl LI. Ryan was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in 2022, where he spent one season. Early life and high school Ryan went to William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia where he was a three-year starter and 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 2000 yards with 19 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 a pitcher and shortstop on the baseball team. Ryan says he was "mildly" recruited and began receiving scholarship offers as a sophomore. Some of the schools that offered him an athletic scholarship were Purdue, Georgia Tech, Temple, and Connecticut. After visiting Boston College during his junior year, he gave them his verbal commitment on August 14, 2002. His choices had come down to Iowa or Boston College. Ryan was looking for a university close to home and one that had a strong and competitive football program with a major emphasis on academics.