In a semi-famous Gatorade ad that ends with Matt Ryan sweating and throwing and emoting all over the Falcons’ indoor practice facility, the quarterback joined a chorus of stars who avowed that the path to victory is paved by loss.
In the ad, Ryan and the Falcons letting slip a seemingly undeniable lead and losing the Super Bowl was the example the wizards of Madison Avenue closed with for maximum effect.
“Make defeat your fuel,” rumbles the voice-over as the spot dissolves at the end.
So fresh was the wound from the Falcons’ Super Bowl slide that perhaps Ryan’s presence in the ad caught the viewer by surprise the first time. Not really his style. He’s always been more reserved than raw, more constant ripple than big splash.
But he embraced the message.
“There are different things throughout your life, throughout your career that add to motivation for you,” he said. “And, certainly, not fulfilling the goal that we set out to is another log on the fire. I think that’s what the message was there.
“I think it’s the case with everyone in life, regardless of what you do, there are things that happen that are disappointing and frustrating. Everybody can relate to that. The most important thing in those situations is getting up and moving forward. That’s how (the ad) was described to me, and I think that’s how it came across.”
Fade to real life, where Ryan is entering his 10 season as the most important Falcon and his first as an MVP. He picked up that award just the day before absorbing the Super Bowl dagger. Talk about a mixed-message weekend.
In every way just short of a championship, the 2016 season was a transformative one for Ryan. The very good quarterback compiled elite numbers: Nearly 5,000 passing yards; a ridiculous touchdown-to-interception ratio of 38-to-7; and the NFL lead in all the really neat big-play stats such as yards per attempt and pass plays of 40 yards or more.
Yet so dramatic was his production at this advanced stage of his career that certain voices out there began nattering about how that season was more outlier than indication. That so much went so right last season – like his offensive line remaining intact throughout, like his receivers turning the dropped pass into an unsubstantiated rumor – that his performance under any less ideal conditions will never be replicated.
Need even more fuel, Matty Ice? How about the ESPN fantasy wonk who notably put you on his “Do Not Draft” list. “Expect a return to earth following what was a career year at age 31,” he wrote.
“I’m good with that,” Ryan said amid laughter. “I haven’t paid a ton of attention to their fantasy-draft lineups.”
Then there were the words of Fox Sports professional talker Colin Cowherd, who routinely has argued on air that Ryan does not belong among the top tier of quarterbacks in the league. That he also was the same quarterback with the 1-4 postseason record before last season, the one whose average quarterback rating his first eight seasons was nearly 27 points lower than that of last season.
Given all this, there is no reason Ryan shouldn’t be as fueled up as a transatlantic jetliner for this season.
Other issues, of course, may intrude. Like the fact that he is starting over with a new offensive coordinator for the fourth time in his Falcons tenure. His best season followed one of his most frustrating as Ryan struggled to come to an understanding with Kyle Shanahan after he joined the Falcons in 2015. Nobody wants to go through another essentially wasted season of acclimation, this time with Steve Sarkisian.
The indications are that Sarkisian, who has coached quarterbacks since 2000, has a temperament suited to working well with others, particularly proven veteran players. He recalls being just a 29-year-old quarterback coach in Oakland working with Rich Gannon, 10 years his senior.
“I realized right then there was a wealth of knowledge that Rich Gannon had. Matt is very similar to Rich, not in age, but Matt has played so much football from the moment he has stepped into the league, I’d be remiss not to take information he gives me,” Sarkisian said.
“That’s where there has to be give and take. If I’m just stubborn and don’t take his input, sooner or later he’s going to stop giving that input. I really try to be open to it. If we don’t go with the suggestion, I explain why and Matt’s good about it.
“For the most part all his ideas and suggestions and thoughts are very thoughtful and really fit well with what we’re trying to do, and generally we go with them.”
For at least now, the new OC has decided to call the plays from the sideline, which could hasten the bonding process, as the two literally attempt to see eye-to-eye at game time.
The head coach seems happy with this arrangement.
“There has to be that connection between a play-caller and the quarterback. It’s an important relationship, and I’m encouraged with where they’re at,” Dan Quinn said.
That quarterback in the Gatorade ad is but a slight dramatization of the one who has started all but two games over the long haul since 2008. Such durability is a clue to Ryan’s professional ethics. The serious, single-minded way he has gone about his business for nearly a decade has been the trademark of a player who otherwise doesn’t go out of his way to fill us in on his traits.
So, honestly, even with a new set of motivations, how much more can Ryan really put into 2017? He already has the spent offseasons training in California with his biomechanics guy (and even added a little West Coast training with young tight end Austin Hooper this year). He has begun a tradition of gathering players for three days of work in South Florida – at his expense. This year 40 players showed up to do a little extra-credit work.
Teammates will tell you that their quarterback never has displayed a shortage of good habits.
None more than his center, Alex Mack, who when he joined the Falcons a year ago after seven years in Cleveland finally got to work with a quarterback who got it. Coming into this situation from the quarterbacking morass in Cleveland was nothing less than a deliverance. A special-forces rescue mission.
“He’s a competitor. Every day he shows up, working hard, paying attention to details, holding other people accountable, holding himself accountable. Absolutely what you want from a leader, and what you want from a quarterback,” he said.
Echoed Ryan’s favored receiver, Julio Jones, “Matt’s always been Matt to me. I’ve always seen the capabilities he’s had early on. He has been consistent for so long, you got to recognize that.”
As for any added juice he may possess following the Super Bowl nightmare: “Last year was last year. Matt comes out here every day and tries to get better,” Jones said.
This is how Ryan explains how he can find some way to put another new coat of paint on an already thoroughly covered career. It’s a simple mantra, actually. “You always feel that there’s better,” he said.
“I feel I’ve always given great effort throughout my career, and I feel like I’ll continue to do that. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found ways to be more efficient, more effective with the way that I train.
“I also think that as life goes on and as your career goes on, motivations change. You can use different things to get you up and get you ready to go.”
Like, say, losing a Super Bowl in the worst kind of way and then telling the whole world that defeat is your fuel.
Or, living in the shadow of doubt that your best season might be your only season played at such an altitude. That’s not necessarily a thought that Ryan wants to dismiss. He might find some use for that particular slight.
“Q (Quinn) says it all the time in our locker room: Anybody can do it once, right? Anybody can play one good play. Anybody can do it once. Certainly, you want to continue to prove that,” he said.
“I think as a player in this league you’re constantly proving yourself, every time you take the field. There are so many good players, so many tough opponents you go against. It’s a constant battle year in and year out to do that,” Ryan added.
Winning the MVP award is one of those peak moments in a career. A great honor that comes with a really cool trophy, Ryan will tell you. It’s how one processes the view from that kind of summit that determines what comes next.
Ask Ryan what he sees when he looks at that cool trophy, and you hear someone not exactly satisfied. Yeah, you must conclude, defeat is high-octane.
Said Ryan, “I’m proud of it for sure. Everybody throughout their life hopes to be able to accomplish something like that on a personal level. So, I’m very proud of it.
“But there’s another trophy I’d like to go get. That’s certainly the one that means the most.”
No need to spell out which one that might be.
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