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NFL fans snub Ryan despite his success
Source: Agencies |
December 16, 2010, Thursday
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THE popularity contest known as NFL Pro Bowl voting has not been kind to Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.
The highly successful player has Atlanta atop the NFC standings with an 11-2 record but is missing from the latest top 10 of All-Star candidates based on balloting by fans - a list that features six quarterbacks led by former Atlanta player Michael Vick, now of the Philadelphia Eagles.
"As good as Atlanta is right now, Atlanta is not a household name in Montana or Oregon," NFL expert Gil Brandt said in explaining Ryan's absence. "They don't have the fan background like someone like the Mannings or Brady."
For Brandt, though, there is no more valuable player in the NFL this season than Ryan.
While others point to red-hot New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as the man for the honor, Brandt said last week he was sticking with Ryan, his preseason pick.
"The guy just doesn't make bad plays," said Brandt, vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys for 29 years who now shares his expertise as an NFL.com writer and Sirius radio analyst.
"He has got great composure. There is no question he is really bright and he is probably a better athlete than you think he is," Brandt said. "He has got everything going that you need."
Statistics
Everything, perhaps, but that national fan base and the glamor statistics of established NFL quarterbacks Brady, Peyton Manning (Colts), Drew Brees (Saints) and Philip Rivers (Chargers).
"Matty Ice," as some call the third-year quarterback, just wins, often on heart-throbbing, late-game rallies.
Six times this season the Falcons have done just that behind the 25-year-old. The highlight may have been a 26-21 triumph over Baltimore secured by an 80-yard drive that took 45 of the 65 seconds remaining in the game.
The Falcons were still stunned by the year-earlier departure of Vick, who was suspended by the NFL after pleading guilty to dog-fighting charges. They had won only four of 16 games in 2007, their first year without Vick.
Ryan, the Falcons' top draft choice in 2008, started all 16 games that season, guiding the Falcons to an 11-5 record and their first playoff spot in four years.
The highly successful player has Atlanta atop the NFC standings with an 11-2 record but is missing from the latest top 10 of All-Star candidates based on balloting by fans - a list that features six quarterbacks led by former Atlanta player Michael Vick, now of the Philadelphia Eagles.
"As good as Atlanta is right now, Atlanta is not a household name in Montana or Oregon," NFL expert Gil Brandt said in explaining Ryan's absence. "They don't have the fan background like someone like the Mannings or Brady."
For Brandt, though, there is no more valuable player in the NFL this season than Ryan.
While others point to red-hot New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as the man for the honor, Brandt said last week he was sticking with Ryan, his preseason pick.
"The guy just doesn't make bad plays," said Brandt, vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys for 29 years who now shares his expertise as an NFL.com writer and Sirius radio analyst.
"He has got great composure. There is no question he is really bright and he is probably a better athlete than you think he is," Brandt said. "He has got everything going that you need."
Statistics
Everything, perhaps, but that national fan base and the glamor statistics of established NFL quarterbacks Brady, Peyton Manning (Colts), Drew Brees (Saints) and Philip Rivers (Chargers).
"Matty Ice," as some call the third-year quarterback, just wins, often on heart-throbbing, late-game rallies.
Six times this season the Falcons have done just that behind the 25-year-old. The highlight may have been a 26-21 triumph over Baltimore secured by an 80-yard drive that took 45 of the 65 seconds remaining in the game.
The Falcons were still stunned by the year-earlier departure of Vick, who was suspended by the NFL after pleading guilty to dog-fighting charges. They had won only four of 16 games in 2007, their first year without Vick.
Ryan, the Falcons' top draft choice in 2008, started all 16 games that season, guiding the Falcons to an 11-5 record and their first playoff spot in four years.
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