The Falcoholic
As a first round draft pick in 2008, Matt Ryan become one of the greatest Atlanta Falcons ever. He’s the sole league MVP in team history, its all-time leading passer in every category that counts, and went to the playoffs far more frequently than any other quarterback the team has had. He’s not a lock for it, but Ryan has a case as a Hall of Famer, and came closer than anyone else to piloting Atlanta to their first Super Bowl win.
He did all that as a player, but now he may try for a second chapter as an executive that the Falcons hope will reach even greater heights. Per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Falcons are interview Ryan for what’s being called a president of football role, one in which he’ll have a significant voice in team decisions and will (you’d think) be prominently involved in the search for a general manager and head coach. With Greg Beadles taking on Rich McKay’s CEO role and handling a lot of operational pieces for the franchise, Ryan is interviewing to essentially take on the football-related aspects of McKay’s old job, directly oversee the front office and coaching staff, and likely assume other responsibilities the team has yet to publicly define.
After retiring, Ryan had taken up a new career as an analyst and commentator, appearing on podcasts and both announcing games and working pre-game and post-game shows for CBS. It’s a big leap from that into a football executive role, but the Falcons are desperate to add a sharp football mind they trust to this organization at the highest level and Ryan fits the bill on both counts. He still has a strong relationship with Arthur Blank despite the way his tenure in Atlanta ended—traded to the Colts after the team’s desperate, dumb pursuits of Deshaun Watson, if you’ll recal—and still knows some of the players on this roster and plenty of people in this building, which is helpful. Ryan has shown throughout his careers, plural now, that he understands the game well, has a relentless work ethic, and understands what sustains winning organizations. He was part of one of those organizations for a little bit, though it seems impossibly long ago now, and will get the chance to actually mold one this time out if he’s hired.
There is reporting that Ryan is trying to hold on to his role as an analyst at CBS even if he lands this role, which does concern me. Awful Announcing outlined all the ways this provides genuine conflicts that could impact Ryan’s work at CBS, but from the perspective of a fan of the Atlanta Falcons, I’m more concerned with whether staying at CBS would impact Ryan’s ability to be a full-time, fully attentive presence in Flowery Branch for a team hiring him to be essentially a football czar. “President of football” is not a title you typically give to a part-time employee, and while I don’t doubt Ryan’s work ethic at...
