Matt Ryan says Falcons fans didn’t appreciate him

Matt Ryan is arguably the greatest player in Falcons history. Some could argue for Julio Jones, Claude Humphrey, Deion Sanders, and more, but a lot of people believe #2 is the GOAT in Atlanta.

The Boston College product took over a dumpster fire of an organization that had just watched its former franchise quarterback in Mike Vick go to prison while also watching its former head coach in Bobby Petrino leave the team in the middle of the season with nothing more than a note.

Ryan immediately took the Falcons to playoffs, won Offensive Rookie of the Year, and most of all, gave the city hope. For the next decade-plus, the Falcons were consistently competitive thanks to the team’s quarterback play.

He is the Falcons’ all-time leading passer in attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, passer rating, and 300-yard games. Matt Ryan threw for over 4,000 yards in 10 of his 14 seasons in Atlanta, as well as an NFL record 64 straight games with at least 200 yards passing. He’ll be in the discussion for Canton and will eventually have his jersey retired with the Falcons.

However, since his departure from Atlanta, the franchise has suffered what so many others have for decades — quarterback purgatory. The Falcons went through Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, and Taylor Heinicke, who had more lowlights than highlights during their time with Atlanta.

It’s a stark reminder to remember to be grateful because you never know what you have until you lose it. That’s exactly the case with Matt Ryan among Falcons fans. A lot of fans took him for granted, blamed him for painful losses, and held him to an unfair standard.

He noticed too. On Cam Newton‘s podcast 4th & 1, Ryan was asked if he was appreciated in Atlanta for all of his work. Ryan’s short answer — no.