Matt Ryan

About Matt Ryan

Matt Ryan spent 14 seasons in Atlanta doing everything right and still getting defined by one game. He threw for over 59,000 yards as a Falcon, won the 2016 MVP, led one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history, and carried the franchise through its most successful era. None of that matters in a meme. What matters is 28-3. The Super Bowl LI collapse follows Matt Ryan around like a shadow that has its own Wikipedia page. He played an incredible game that night, threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns, had a 144.1 passer rating, and still lost. The football gods decided that the most statistically dominant Super Bowl performance by a losing quarterback would become the biggest choke job in sports history.

The "Matty Ice" nickname is the other half of the equation. It was supposed to mean he was clutch, cool under pressure, the guy who wanted the ball with the game on the line. And for most of his career, that was accurate. He led more fourth-quarter comebacks than almost any quarterback of his generation. But the nickname became ironic after February 5, 2017, and ironic nicknames are meme fuel forever. He's now a CBS analyst, which is the professional equivalent of a quarterback who threw 367 career touchdowns being asked to talk calmly about other people throwing touchdowns.

Last updated: April 2026