ATLANTA (WISH) — A decorated career is officially over.
Former Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday.
Ryan signed a one-day contract with the Falcons to retire with the Dirty Birds in Atlanta.
“Today, 16 years after being drafted, my childhood dream has officially come to an end,” Ryan said in a video posted on the Falcons’ social media pages. “I’m honored to retire as a Falcon… I am so lucky that my start and my finish was here in Atlanta.”
The four-time Pro Bowler played 14 of his 15 seasons in Atlanta after the Falcons drafted him third overall from Boston College in 2008.
Ryan’s best season game was in 2016 when he was named the league Most Valuable Player and led the Falcons to Super Bowl LI, in which they famously lost to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots after leading by 28-3. Ryan addressed that loss in his retirement speech.
“It’s one of the things, I think that’s always a part of you. Falling short of what you ultimately set out to do is tough. But that’s life.
There’s so many things in your life that are gonna go that way. You’ve got to pick up and move on,” Ryan said Monday.
When owner Arthur Blank and crew decided a new era was needed in Atlanta in 2022, Ryan was traded to Indianapolis for a third-round pick in that year’s draft.
Ryan played in 12 games for the Horseshoe, leaving Indy throwing for 3,057 yards, 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
The Colts finished 4-12-1 that season after firing head coach Frank Reich and dealing with a carousel of quarterback changes — ultimately releasing Ryan.
Ryan’s 62,792 career passing yards rank seventh all-time behind Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Manning won a Super Bowl title for the Colts — one of dozens of accolades during Manning’s 14 seasons in Indy — while Rivers also finished his career with one final year with the Horseshoe.
Elsewhere, Ryan officially leaves the league fifth in NFL history in completions (5,551) and passing attempts (8,464), ninth in touchdowns (381) and sacks taken (488). His 46 game-winning drives are sixth best in history.
Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly made it clear following the end of the regular season that he has no plans of entering retirement anytime soon.
When asked by Indy media members about the notion of him potentially hanging up the spikes, Kelly was unwavering in his response to the question.
Specifically asked Ryan Kelly when he began thinking about his future.
Kelly: ‘About what?’
About maybe retiring: ‘Have I ever mentioned I’m thinking about retiring? Where does that s*** come from?’
It’s out there: ‘Somebody needs to check their sources.’
Despite dealing with a pair of concussions this season, Kelly regained his form as one of the top centers in the NFL. He returned to form as the anchor of the offensive line excelling in both pass protection and run blocking.
The Colts offensive line as a whole bounced back in a big way under new coach Tony Sparano Jr., and this is even despite the fact that the starting unit played only a handful of games together.
According to Pro Football Focus, Kelly’s seven total pressures allowed were the fewest among all NFL centers with at least 300 pass-blocking snaps. He also allowed just one sack on the season.
The Colts offensive line was back to being the strength of the offense in 2023, which was a far cry from what we had seen the previous two seasons.
Kelly is still under contract for the 2024 season with a $14.62 million salary-cap hit. It’s likely that one of the draft picks in April will be used on a potential replacement for Kelly in the future, but it seems he will be returning for at least one more campaign.