Background and career
Matthew Thomas Ryan (born May 17, 1985) is an American professional football executive and former quarterback who is the president of football for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Matty Ice," he previously played in the NFL for 15 seasons, primarily with the Falcons. He ranks among the league's all-time top 10 in passing yards, passing touchdowns, attempts, and completions, and is the Falcons' franchise leader in each of these categories. Ryan played college football for the Boston College Eagles, winning the Manning and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards and receiving first-team All-American honors in 2007. He was selected third overall by the Falcons in the 2008 NFL draft and took them to the playoffs in his first season, earning him Offensive Rookie of the Year. Ryan went on to lead the team to six playoff appearances and three division titles during his 14 seasons in Atlanta, while receiving four Pro Bowl selections and one first-team All-Pro selection. His most successful season was in 2016 when he was named NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and led the Falcons to an appearance in Super Bowl LI. Ryan played for the Indianapolis Colts in his final year. After retiring, he rejoined the Falcons in 2026 as the president of football. He was inducted to the Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor in 2024.
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.
Ryan began attending Boston College in 2003 and redshirted his first year with the team. Before the 2004 season, he was named the starting quarterback for Boston College due to an injury to Quinton Porter. He made his collegiate debut on October 2, 2004, against the UMass Minutemen and completed two of three passes for 16 yards in the 29–7 victory. He would not complete his first touchdown until November 20, 2004 against Temple after throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to Larry Lester. Replacing the injured Paul Peterson, he completed 9-of-15 passes for 121 yards in the 34–17 victory. He made his first collegiate start on November 27, 2004, in the final game of that season, completing 24 of 51 passes for 200 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions in a 43–17 loss against Syracuse. He also played against North Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl. He completed one of his two passes for 13 yards in the 37–24 victory. Ryan also received the 2004 Freshman Male Scholar-Athlete award in the same year.
At the beginning of the 2005 season, Ryan was named the second-string quarterback behind Quinton Porter. Porter had some success at the beginning of the year, including winning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week for his performance in Boston College's 28–17 win over Virginia. After a 30–10 loss to third-ranked Virginia Tech, coach Tom O'Brien finally went to Ryan for good in the fourth quarter of the next game against North Carolina State. In ten games, of which he started five, he completed 121 of 195 passes for 1,514 yards. He had eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed for five touchdowns and 94 yards. He started his first bowl game in the MPC Computers Bowl versus Boise State. He completed 19 of 36 passes for 256 yards and a career-best three touchdowns in the 27–21 victory to help Boston College finish with a #18 ranking in the final AP Poll.
Ryan started 11 of the 12 games. He completed 263-of-427 passes for a conference-leading 2,942 yards, 15 touchdowns, and ten interceptions. In addition, he rushed for four touchdowns. He was All-ACC first-team and led the ACC in total offense (242.2 yards per game) and in passing yards (245.5 yards per game). He was named ACC Offensive Back of the week three times. He set career highs in completions (32 against Central Michigan) and passing yards (356 against Brigham Young). He led the team to a 9–3 record including double overtime wins versus Clemson and Brigham Young. He led the Eagles to a close 25–24 victory on December 26, 2006, in the Meineke Car Care Bowl against Navy in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the season opener against Central Michigan, Ryan sprained his ankle. Against Virginia Tech, Ryan broke his foot on the same leg. Despite these injuries, Ryan only missed one game (against Buffalo). His 57 pass attempts in the 2006 Wake Forest game tied Shawn Halloran's performance against Syracuse in 1985 and Frank Harris' performance against Army in 1968. For the school record, his 40 pass completions in the 2006 Wake Forest game broke the old school record of 37 by Harris in the game against Army in 1968.
Ryan launched a website during his senior year called Mattyice.com, where fans and media had 24-hour access to his video highlights, updated biographical information, statistics and other information. Before the season started, Ryan was named to the preseason All-ACC team. Boston College also hired a new coach: Jeff Jagodzinski, a longtime NFL assistant. Against Wake Forest, he completed 32 of 52 passes for 408 yards and five touchdowns in the 38–28 victory. He continued his hot streak versus Georgia Tech, going 30–of–44 with one touchdown and passing for a career-high 435 yards against the staunch Tech defense en route to a convincing 24–10 road victory. After this game, Ryan was suggested as a potential Heisman Trophy contender. Battling Virginia Tech through bad weather in Blacksburg, Virginia, Ryan led an amazing comeback for the Boston College Eagles, passing for two touchdowns with less than three minutes to play on October 25, 2007, including the game-winner with 11 seconds left to Andre Callender. However, Ryan's chances to win the Heisman fell sharply after he threw three interceptions in a 27–17 loss to an unranked 6–3 Florida State. However, with a strong performance against Clemson, his chances were raised substantially. Despite two consecutive ACC losses, Ryan and the Eagles found themselves with a trip to the conference championship on the line. Down 10–3 in the third quarter, he led the offense on a game-tying drive, hitting on key passes to Rich Gunnell, Andre Callender, and Ryan Purvis, landing the Eagles at the Clemson two-yard line early in the fourth. James McCluskey finished the job from there, running it in to even the score at 10-apiece. Shortly thereafter, a Clemson turnover resulted in a Boston College field goal and a 13–10 lead for the Eagles. On November 24, against ACC rival Miami, Ryan surpassed Doug Flutie for the most passing touchdowns in a single season by an Eagle quarterback with 28 touchdowns, ultimately ending the season with 31. Despite these records, he struggled with throwing interceptions throughout the year, and finished with 19 (second most among college quarterbacks). His five touchdown passes in the 2007 Wake Forest game are one shy of the school record of six, held by Flutie in 1984 against North Carolina. For Boston College, it was their first 10-win regular season since 1940 and the first time they had achieved back-to-back 10-overall-win seasons in program history. He led the Eagles to extend the nation's longest bowl winning streak to eight with a 24–21 victory over Michigan State Spartans in the Champs Sports Bowl on December 28, Ryan threw three touchdown passes, two to Rich Gunnell and one to Jon Loyte. He finished the season with a conference-leading 4,507 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions. Ryan earned various accolades for the 2007 season. He was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and the ACC Player of the Year. He was awarded the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually in the United States to the nation's most outstanding college football senior quarterback. The other finalists for the 2007 award were Hawaii's Colt Brennan, Louisville's Brian Brohm, Oregon's Dennis Dixon, and Kentucky's Andre' Woodson (all of whom were drafted at the 2008 NFL draft). He was selected to play in the 2008 Senior Bowl. He also won the 2007 Manning Award awarded to the nation's top quarterback, beating out eventual Heisman winner Tim Tebow and eight other finalists for that year's award: Erik Ainge (Tennessee), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Colt Brennan (Hawaiʻi), Chase Daniel (Missouri), Dennis Dixon (Oregon), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech), Pat White (West Virginia), and Andre Woodson (Kentucky). He was named "Eagle of the Year" alongside Boston College's first ever individual champion Kasey Hill. He finished in seventh place in the Heisman Trophy voting that year. He was featured as the cover athlete for the PS3 version of NCAA Football 09. In 2016, Boston College retired his jersey.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
