Falcons QB Ryan named NFC top offensive rookie

Matt Ryan became the future of the Atlanta Falcons when Michael Vick was sent to prison for his depraved enjoyment of animal abuse.  Not only was it the best thing to ever happen to Ryan, it may have been a turning point for the entire franchise.  Ryan has developed into a solid NFL signal caller and team leader faster than anyone anticipated, and improbably led the Falcons to an 11-5 record and playoff berth.  On Tuesday morning he was rewarded for his achievement, being named the NFC’s top offensive rookie by an overwhelming margin.

There may not be a more difficult position in sports than NFL quarterback, and even the best to play the position have suffered through some tough years due to its brutal learning curve.  In fact, Ryan was only the third QB to win the award since its inception in 1957.  Making his accomplishments even more impressive was the utter mess he inherited in Atlanta in the aftermath not only of the Vick situation, but after head coach Bobby Petrino bolted to return to college coaching following the 2007 season.  In a position where failure was almost assumed, Ryan displayed almost unfathomable leadership and poise for a rookie and helped steady a struggling franchise.  From a 4-12 mark in 2007 to 11-5 and the playoffs in 2008 is an impressive turnaround, and much of the credit certainly belongs to Ryan.

More importantly, perhaps, he is the complete antithesis of Vick in the essential area of personal character—he personifies all of the blue collar toughness and heart that Vick completely lacked.  Chosen with the third pick overall out of Boston College, he impressed teammates, coaches and opponents while maintaining impressive personal humility.  In his comments after being named the top offensive rookie in the NFC, Ryan focused on the achievements of the entire team rather than his personal success:

"I'm certainly flattered.  There's a number of guys who had great rookie seasons this year, so to even be mentioned in that light is nice. It's certainly a great honor, and I think it speaks to what we did as a team this year."

Ryan may not be the type to toot his own horn, but veteran Falcons linebacker Keith Brookings had considerable praise for the young QB:

"Obviously the big question was how well Matt would perform as a rookie quarterback. We knew there'd be bumps in the road, but it's unbelievable what he's done in such a short period of time with the guys on our offense."

One of Ryan’s opponents, Saints’ linebacker Scott Fujita, may have paid him the biggest compliment of all:

"I'm not trying to compare anybody to Peyton Manning but for somebody to do that that early in their career and have that much maturity and that much control of the offense, and be able to dictate to us the things that they wanted to do, I was impressed with him. And frustrated and ticked off at the same time."

It may have not happened the way that anyone would have expected, but despite their best efforts to the contrary the Atlanta Falcons have found themselves a franchise QB.  More importantly, he’s a winner on the field and a gentleman off the field—something that is long overdue in Atlanta.