Super Bowl victory would justify Matt Ryan’s rocky journey

HOUSTON — Everyone has a journey to travel before reaching the Super Bowl.

Some are touching, some tragic, some inspiring, some uncomplicated.

Some are even about a quarterback tutored in the Quaker ways of worshipping in silence and never drawing attention to oneself being drafted to help save a franchise after its urban legend of a leader was sentenced to 19 months in prison for his involvement in a dog fighting ring.

So, yeah, some are pretty crazy, too.

Matt Ryan might be considered the other quarterback in Super Bowl LI on Sunday at NRG Stadium, the understudy to football’s most famous star, but his maiden voyage with the Atlanta Falcons to the National Football League’s biggest game has been no less impressive than how Tom Brady reached this moment a seventh time with New England.

“To me, it feels … Obviously this isn’t normal, right?” Ryan said.

The Falcons were confident that April evening in 2008 that in drafting Ryan third overall out of Boston College, they had discovered a solution to the nightmare Michael Vick’s legal issues created.

The organization moved forward from Vick’s scandal with Ryan as the quarterback it hoped could return the Falcons to a Super Bowl for just the second time. Yet a young player learned how difficult it could be existing within the shadow of an Atlanta icon, the most exciting star in team history whose immense fan base locally stood behind their hero and questioned the new guy’s ability to win them over, along with games.

It hasn’t always been the smoothest of rides, but what’s that they say about resiliency; the human capacity for burden is like bamboo — far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.

Nine seasons later, Ryan never snapped under the intense glare and is a favorite for the league’s Most Valuable Player award, having just put together a momentous season that led the NFL’s best offense to within 60 minutes of what would be the second major professional sports championship in Atlanta history.

“Obviously, when I got drafted, (Vick) had been there for such a long time, and everybody knows how that ended,” Ryan said. “For me, early on I just tried to go in and do the job the best I could. Michael has been incredibly supportive of me as I’ve gotten to know him, as I’ve gotten older. That support has meant a lot.”

Ryan’s video game numbers this season — a completion percentage of near 70 percent, 4,944 yards, 38 touchdowns to just a career-low seven interceptions — are made more impressive when you consider the type of player he is. He’s tall and awkward and hardly a proficient scrambler. He isn’t going to avoid many pass rushers with his feet nor run them over with brute strength.

But what he might lack in athleticism, he makes up for in brainpower.

The Falcons make use of NeuroTracker, a device that aids cognitive skills by having Ryan wear 3D glasses to track different spheres moving quickly across a screen, aiming to strengthen his peripheral vision.

Point being, if he can successfully follow small yellow dots while keeping focused on a green one, he can probably find Julio Jones among all those defensive backs.

There is no question that while Ryan had some fine early seasons under former head coach Mike Smith — four playoff appearances in five years between 2008-12, but just a 1-4 record in those games — he didn’t completely realize his potential until Dan Quinn replaced Smith and hired Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator in 2015.

Even then, it took a disappointing first season with both to understand what it meant to go from capable to elite.

“What got us to this point, it would have been harder to get here if we didn’t go through last year together,” Shanahan said. “You learn who people are when you go through adversity. We started out 5-0. Then we lost six games in a row. You lose two games in a row in the NFL, and it’s Armageddon. We lost six.

“You really find out who people are during those times. To watch the pressure on Matt (last year) … it’s not all fun, it’s not all easy. It’s how he carries himself. The guy is impressive as a human being as you can be around. Whenever you have all of those attributes, that’s kind of a coach’s dream. That’s what you look for. You know that he’s capable of doing anything, and he’s got the passion and determination that he doesn’t mind the challenge.”

What is legacy? Not having regrets? An irresistible spirit to live life to its fullest? One’s body of work? All that which you leave behind?

Ryan on Sunday, in many ways, despite holding most all of the franchise’s passing records, is playing to prove he belongs, that he should exist in the same sentence as the greats of the game’s most important position, that he can lift the same Lombardi Trophy other quarterbacks born in Pennsylvania (Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Joe Namath) did and out-do a few (Dan Marino and Jim Kelly) who didn’t.

His nickname, Matty Ice, comes from his time as a student at Penn Charter School and its Quaker curriculum dating to 1689. It’s what his high school teammates called him for what, after years of stories and clouded memories, has settled on his leadership skills and business-like approach on the field.

Those will be tested like never before against the Patriots and the league’s No. 1 defense.

What better time to step out of an understudy’s role and into a starring one?

What a marvelous culmination it would be to the journey.

Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.