Ex-Falcons QB Ryan officially retires from NFL
After 15 seasons, four Pro Bowls and a Most Valuable Player award, former Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan announced his retirement Monday, officially ending the career of one of the most durable and consistent players of his generation.
Ryan made the announcement in a video statement posted to social media by the team.
"So today, 16 days after being drafted, my childhood dream has officially come to an end. I'm honored to retire as a Falcon," he said.
He added, "You have no control in this profession in where you start. I am so lucky that my start and my finish was here in Atlanta."
From: Matt Ryan To: Atlanta pic.twitter.com/JWhkNqHzdY— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons)
Ryan, 38, started all 234 games he played during his career, including starting every game for the Falcons at quarterback from 2010 until Oct. 27, 2019, when he missed a game against the Seattle Seahawks due to an ankle injury.
In all, Ryan missed just three games in his career in Atlanta, where he became the team's all-time leader in almost every passing category.
Ryan led the NFL in completions twice (2019, 2020), attempts once (2020) and completion percentage once (2012). In his career, he completed 65.6% of his passes for 62,792 yards, 381 touchdowns and 183 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 93.6.
He finished his career fifth in NFL history in completions (5,551) and attempts (8,464), seventh in yards, ninth in touchdowns, eighth in passing yards per game (268.3), ninth in sacks taken (488) and 39th in interceptions.
Ryan's 46 game-winning drives are sixth in NFL history -- two ahead of his good friend, Matthew Stafford, who now becomes the active leader in game-winning drives with 44. His 38 career fourth-quarter comebacks are fourth all-time, trailing just Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger -- three more than the now-active leader, Stafford.
From 2011 until 2020, Ryan completed at least 61% of his passes for over 4,000 yards and at least 20 touchdowns each season. In his last year in Atlanta, in 2021, he held up two of those marks -- completing 67% of his passes and throwing 20 touchdowns, but missed the 4,000-yard mark by 32 yards.
The Falcons opened up the possibility of trading Ryan in March, 2022 when the team pursued a Deshaun Watson trade. Watson was eventually dealt to Cleveland, but in doing so the Falcons also discussed moving on from Ryan -- allowing to seek out potential trade candidates. General manager Terry Fonentot said after they traded Ryan they wanted the veteran quarterback to be involved in those discussions "because he deserves that. He's earned the right to be involved in that."
That landing spot ended up being Indianapolis, where Ryan was traded for a third-round pick in the 2022 draft. Ryan started 12 games for the Colts in 2022 in what ended up being his final playing season in the NFL, completing 67% of his passes for 3,057 yards, 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Indianapolis released Ryan in March 2023, and he did not play last season, becoming an in-game analyst for CBS Sports.
Ryan's best season came in 2016, when he led Atlanta to the Super Bowl -- the season where he was named the league;s MVP and a first-team All-Pro -- and he had career-highs of 4,944 yards a 69.9% completion rate and 38 touchdowns. He led the NFL in passer rating (117.1) and QBR (79.6) that season.
By then, Ryan had been a mainstay in Atlanta after being the No. 3 pick in the 2008 draft out of Boston College. When Ryan was selected, Atlanta sought a stabilizing presence at the position after three quarterbacks -- Joey Harrington, Chris Redman and Byron Leftwich -- started games during a 2007 season which had the suspension of Michael Vick on dogfighting charges and the 13-game tenure of then-coach Bobby Petrino, who told Atlanta's players of his resignation in a letter as he left to coach at college football at Arkansas.
Ryan became the first draft pick of new head coach Mike Smith, who ended up the franchise's coaching leader in wins (66).
Ryan finished his first season earning 44 of 50 votes to become the Offensive Rookie of the Year, completing 61.1% of his passes for 3,440 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, leading the Falcons to the first of his six playoff seasons in Atlanta. He led Atlanta to one Super Bowl -- a 34-28 loss to New England on Feb. 5, 2017 -- and one other NFC Championship game.
In the postseason, Ryan completed 67.5% of his passes for 2,672 yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He played his last five postseason games without throwing a pick.
Ryan ended up Atlanta's career leader in wins (120), yards (59,735), touchdowns (367), completions (5,242) and attempts (8,003) for the Falcons. His 65.5% completion rate with Atlanta is the most in franchise history of quarterbacks who started more than one season for the franchise.
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4 of May 2024
