The Falcons will begin their sixth consecutive season with Matt Ryan as their starting quarterback, a run in franchise history surpassed only by Steve Bartkowski but not quite Joey Harrington. There have been some quarterbacks who could lead but couldn’t play, some who had talent but were pariahs and one who chose not to grow up until he was traded to Green Bay (Brett Favre).
Ryan hasn’t won a Super Bowl and has only one playoff victory on his resume. But he has garnered almost universal admiration, as well as a $103.75 million contract extension, at least in part because of something that all great quarterbacks have: an ability to lead.
He doesn’t get flustered. He doesn’t whine or scream or pout. He doesn’t yell at teammates when they drop a pass or miss a block. He doesn’t hang his head after a failed drive or turnover. Chicago Bears fans would love to take 10 percent of Matt Ryan and jam it down Jay Cutler’s throat.
“He made the last five years of my career special, not just because of how he played, but the way he carried himself,” said Todd McClure, the Falcons’ recently retired center. “He was like that from the time he got there. I only saw him go off on a guy twice, and once was with Tony (Gonzalez). I think Tony lined up in the wrong formation or something after a TV timeout. But then after the game he apologized for it.”
The Falcons open the season against New Orleans, whose success in recent years largely can be traced to quarterback Drew Brees. This isn’t just about talent. If success as an NFL quarterback was all about a skill set, Jeff George and Michael Vick would be juggling Super Bowl trophies.
It wasn’t until after Vick’s public career meltdown with the Falcons that we learned the extent of his poor leadership skills and his last-in, first-out practice habits. George had his own set of issues, largely between the ears. I once brought up George’s name to a Super Bowl-winning coach, and his response was, “Something’s not right there.”
An arm of gold, a head of cement. George had as much talent as any quarterback during his career, but he passed through eight different franchises. None of them pleaded at the end, “Wait, don’t leave us.”
Possibly George’s career bottom came in 1996, early in his third season with the Falcons. They were getting humiliated at home by Philadelphia 23-10, and coach June Jones pulled George from the game and put in Bobby Hebert. A sideline argument between Jones and George ensued, complete with finger pointing. Television cameras caught it.
To say the matter didn’t blow over the following week would be an understatement: George was suspended for the remainder of the season. (Amusing postscript: Jones said years later that the argument was publicly overblown. Question: How does an argument that leads to a 13-game suspension get overblown?)
We can be fairly certain Ryan won’t suffer the same fate. Beyond the fact that it’s not in his personality, coaches work with him on demeanor and body language as a weekly exercise.
“We talk about body language all the time,” Ryan said. “In the quarterback room, we talk about how everybody feeds off of the quarterback’s body language, good or bad. You have to understand that it’s not just about what you say but how you react in certain situations. When things go wrong, sure, you want to throw your palms up in the air, but you can’t do that. I feel like it’s something I’ve gotten better at.”
Ryan credits former Falcons quarterback coach Bill Musgrave (now Minnesota’s offensive coordinator) for working with him in his first three seasons.
“He had backed up John Elway and Steve Young and others (as a player), and he understood not only what it took to get yourself prepared from the game-plan standpoint, but also the leadership role,” Ryan said. “There’s different ways to do it. Brett Favre was very animated, but he was always positive. Then you had guys like Joe Montana who had no pulse. Both can work.”
Ryan has made mistakes on the field. But he doesn’t emotionally unravel. Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud, watching from the sideline said, “He doesn’t clap his hands or droop his head, whether it’s a good play or a bad play. He just goes on to the next play.”
NFL coaches love robots running their teams.
When asked how he defines leadership, Ryan laughed, looked up at a clock that indicated he had to be at a meeting in five minutes, and responded: “I need more time to answer that. It’s being able to listen. It’s being able to learn from what’s going on around you and then also being able to direct that, being able to understand what everybody’s personality is in this locker room. What everybody wants and then also being able to channel that and take it in the right direction.
“It’s been a process for me to learn that. It’s different from college. It’s different from really anything I’ve done. But I think it’s something I’m getting better at.”
But is it something that has come naturally to him?
“I think so. It’s something that’s kind of innate. It’s part of who you are. I’ve never tried to be showy — it’s not my personality. I’ve always felt, and I know it’s cliche, but at some point you have to stop talking about it and start doing it.”
In his five seasons, Ryan has won more regular-season games (56) than any other quarterback in NFL history and ranks third in winning percentage (.718), behind only Tom Brady (.769) and Peyton Manning (.766). Cutler didn’t make the cut. Nor did Vick. Nor did George. And it’s not because they lacked talent.
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