Player Info

Matt Ryan

NFL Quarterback, Atlanta Falcons

Career Highlights: Matt Ryan just completed his first NFL season as quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons…Drafted by the Falcons with the third pick overall in the 2008 NFL Draft, Ryan became the first rookie quarterback to start a season for the Falcons since Steve Bartkowski in 1975…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…He 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 finished the season with 3,440 passing yards, 17 touchdowns (one rushing), and 11 interceptions…Ryan and fellow Baltimore Ravens rookie Joe Flacco were the first rookie quarterbacks to lead their teams to the playoffs after starting all 16 games of the season…Ryan is one of only two rookie quarterbacks to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a rookie season (along with Peyton Manning)…Ryan was named the Associated Press NFL Rookie of the Year and was also honored with his first Pro Bowl selection…Atlanta made the playoffs for the first time in years, and played the Arizona Cardinals…Ryan completed 26 of 40 passing attempts for 199 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted twice...Atlanta lost the game 30-24, but Ryan set a NFL Playoff rookie record with 26 completions in a single post-season game…Ryan earned the honored of being voted by his teammates as Offensive Captain alongside Todd McClure at the end of the 2008 season…Ryan had a stellar collegiate career at Boston College where he was their starting quarterback from 2005-07…He led the team to three bowl victories and a 25-7 record in 32 career starts…Ryan completed 807 of 1,347 passes for 9,313 yards and 56 touchdowns in his Golden Eagle career…His 807 completions and 1,347 attempts established school career records while his completion percentage of 59.9 ranked third in school annals…In 2007, Ryan led his team to an ACC Atlantic Division Championship and was named ACC Player of the Year…Other Ryan career highlights include being named the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl MVP, the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award , the 2007 Manning Award and the 2007 Scanlan Award.

Updated: May 2009
Courtesy NBC

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