I’m Tired of the “Discourse”, Matt Ryan Is a Hall of Famer
Atlanta, Georgia (PSF) - I’m originally from Atlanta. I’ve had rights to my Falcons fandom since I was born, but have only really embraced it since 2017 (yes, after that game). In any single time I remember being a Falcons fan, all of those fond memories from when I was younger(ish) tie back to Matt Ryan. I wasn’t around for the time of Michael Vick, or all the way back in the day going up against John Elway in the Super Bowl, my Falcons quarterback is Matt Ryan.
He’s delivered me some of my greatest joy as a Falcons fan, and even through the multiple years of 7-9 that lead to an absolute collapse in recent seasons, he still stayed strong, and held firm that he wanted to stay in Atlanta because he loved it there that it was his home. I was absolutely heartbroken last season when we pursued Deshaun Watson, because it was a slap in the face and pure disrespect to the best player in team history, one who had given everything to make that team as good as it was. Even with nothing around him, Matt Ryan always made sure that he was playing up to his best, and that his team was cared for on the field, that they had a leader to trust, and that they could succeed.
Matt Ryan hasn’t officially retired yet, but he’s joining the CBS Sports broadcast team this season, which I think all but spells the end of his career in football. It broke my heart even more to watch him play last season, with the Colts doing absolutely nothing to help him out, the rest of the team imploding around him, and then him getting blamed as the scapegoat for all of those issues that the Colts had.
Let’s do a little experiment here, shall we?
A quarterback with an all-time stat line of 62,792 passing yards (7th all time), 381 touchdowns (9th all time), a 93.6 passer rating, one MVP, one All-Pro selection, four Pro Bowl Selections, a Super Bowl appearance, a winning record in starts, and an Offensive Rookie of the Year Award comes up for Hall of Fame selection. We’re looking at this statistically, nothing more. That’s more yards and touchdowns than Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, Warren Moon, and Joe Montana, four players that are already in the Hall of Fame. Warren Moon and Fran Tarkenton don’t have Super Bowls to their name either, so what about this player? It’s a Hall of Fame statline, it puts this player in the top ten in the two most looked at and talked about passing categories in league history. Additionally, he dueled it out with Drew Brees at least twice a year, and with Tom Brady for a good number of games as well. He held his own.
This player is Matt Ryan. Ryan also has a 4-6 playoff record, with one of those losses being the infamous “28-3” game in Super Bowl 51 against the New England Patriots. As Falcons fans (myself included) will tell you over and over again, that loss was not on Matt Ryan at all. That loss falls squarely on the shoulders of one Kyle Shanahan and his playcalling. His decision to force the Falcons to keep passing the ball and not running out the clock when they were up by 25 points let the Patriots have time to claw back and win that game in overtime. Ryan and the Falcons’ receivers were gassed from having to run pass play after pass play, time after time, and the Patriots’ defense adapted. For what he was given, Matt Ryan tried his best. He was the engine to that team, but the team can still collapse if a key part of it isn’t functioning correctly.
Matt Ryan is a Hall of Famer. Despite that terrible loss and his last couple of years looking not to his previous form, he still deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and considered as one of the top 15 or 20 quarterbacks of all time. A true face of the franchise that gave Atlanta the stability they needed.
