Who is Matt Ryan? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Matthew Thomas Ryan, Matty Ice

Age: 38 Years, 38 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Sarah Marshall (m. 2011)

father: Michael Ryan

mother: Bernice Ryan

siblings: John Ryan, Kate Ryan, Michael Ryan

American Football Players American Men

Height: 6'4" (193 cm), 6'4" Males

U.S. State: Pennsylvania

More Facts

education: Boston College

Recommended For You

Recommended Lists:

Tall Male Celebrities

Male Sportspersons

Childhood & Early Life

Matthew Thomas Ryan was born on 17th May 1985, in Exton, Pennsylvania in the US to Michael and Bernice Ryan, who are Roman Catholics of Irish descent. He is the third of four siblings.

He attended the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia. A football player from a young age, he performed quite well and received honors such as ‘All City First Team’ and second-team recognition. He finished his school career throwing more than 1300 yards with 9 touchdowns as a senior. He was also proficient in basketball and baseball.

Continue Reading Below

Recommended Lists:

American Sportspersons

American Football

Taurus Men

Collegiate Career

Matt Ryan started attending Boston College in 2003, and he made his debut for the college football team in October 2004. In his first match against UMass Minutemen, he completed two passes for sixteen yards. The same year, he was awarded the Freshman Male Scholar-Athlete Award. From 2005 to 2007, he led the college team to three consecutive bowl victories.

During his college career, he won several honors such as the Manning Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and was also named the Most Valuable Player of the MPC Computers Bowl.

Professional Career

During the 2008 NFL Draft, Matt Ryan was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons as the third overall pick. He signed a six-year contract for $72 million. This made him the fourth highest paid quarterback in the NFL. At around the same time, he also signed with Nike and AirTran for endorsement of their products.

In 2008, he was named the starting quarterback for the season’s opening game against Detroit Lions. He became the first rookie quarterback to start a season for the Falcons since 2001. He performed well in the game, and completed his first NFL pass for a 62-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins. This made him the first quarterback to throw a touchdown on his first career pass in the NFL since Michael Bishop in 2000.

His performance improved over the following weeks and he completed the then-longest touchdown pass in his career for 70 yards to Roddy White in a match against the Kansas City Chiefs. The next week, he completed passes to six different players. He threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns in a match against the Green bay Packers. In October, he was honored as the NFC Rookie of the Month, becoming the first player in the history of the Falcons franchise to be awarded this honor.

He finished the season with more than 3000 passing yards, becoming the first Falcons rookie quarterback in history to make that record. He was named the AP NFL Rookie of the Year and named to the All-Rookie Team for the 2008 season. Due to his performance, he was voted by his teammates as the “Offensive Captain” at the end of the season.

During the 2009 season, he suffered an injury and had to miss some games. Despite this, he managed to finish the season with 2916 yards with 22 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 80.9. He continued performing brilliantly in the next season and was named the 52nd Best Player in the league on the list of NFL Top 100 Players of the Year. He was invited to the 2011 Pro Bowl as well.

As his career progressed, he proved himself to be one of the best players of the NFL. He was named to the Pro Bowl again in the 2012 season. He was named on the list of ‘NFL Top 100 Players of 2013’ as well. During the 2013 season, he passed for 455 yards and had 26 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He scored the second highest quarterback rating of his career in the 2014 season. He threw for 4694 yards and 28 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

He continued to play well in the 2015 season, though his team was unable to enter the playoffs. He finished the season with 21 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions. The 2016 season proved to be very important for Ryan as he reached a career high of 4944 yards and 38 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Though the Falcons reached the Super Bowl, they were beaten by the New England Patriots 28-34.

For his performance, Ryan was named the NFL Most Valuable Player of the Year as well as the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2016. He won the Bert Bell Award as well. His amazing performance continued in the following season and he was named in the list of NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.

In 2018, he signed a five-year extension contract with the Falcons for $150 million. This made him the highest paid NFL player in history.

Personal Life

Matt Ryan is married to a woman named Sarah. She gave birth to twin sons, Marshall and John (Johnny), on 8th April 2018.

Other than football, he is also an avid golfer and takes part in golf tournaments such as the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic.

Matt Ryan Biography