Matt Ryan talks about the birth of his twins

With Matt Ryan in the public eye and his wife Sarah active on social media, their silence following his day off during the playoffs for a "personal matter" was worrisome for anyone paying attention to Sarah's pregnancy. As Sarah explained in an Instagram post, she was put on bed rest in January and the twin boys were born very premature in Atlanta in February. The Ryans are now speaking publicly about their new expanded family and all seems well. I generally try to avoid getting into off the field stuff, but they have been such a high profile BC couple and still supportive of the school, that the public news and health of the babies is something I think is worth sharing. Below is Matt talking about the process as he prepares for his golf tournament which supports the hospital that is literally across the street from where his kids were born.

The BC Stuff from Havoline Football Saturdays

Here is the Matt Ryan interview and most of the middle portion is BC talk.

The Addazio stuff is a little cliche, but you still here plenty from Addazio and the 9/11 aspect of the USC win.

Here is Harold Landry.

Thank you, Matt Ryan

Like most of you I am stunned and without much to say. I don't know what the future holds. Sports are funny. Windows and opportunities close unexpectedly or last longer than anyone could have planned. I hope Matt has many more chances in the coming years.

While I feel for him, I am not offering up my pity. I doubt he wants it...or cares, frankly. What I do want to offer is my thanks. I think I have watched every snap of football he has taken in college and the NFL. During that time, he has put 100% effort and determination into every play. He has also been a class act on and off the field. Football is a team sport, so one player can't do it all. However, Matt is one of those people who make everyone around him better. Thank you, Matt.

Matt Ryan is the NFL MVP

The NFL named Matt Ryan the MVP of the league. Sunday is when he can really cement his legacy, but the MVP award is certainly historic. Ryan finished ahead of Tom Brady. The New England quarterback missed the first four games of the season, but even if Brady had played, it would be hard to deny Ryan. The Falcons had the best Offense in the NFL this year and Ryan set career marks in nearly every category. He also spread the ball around so that it was more than just Julio Jones.

I didn't understand the hostility towards Ryan as he became the favorite for the award. I know I shouldn't care this much, but it often felt like because he doesn't play for one the NFL's golden franchises and because he went to BC, he was never going to be considered great by the talking heads. Fortunately, as in other sports, statistics and analytics are now overcoming "narrative."

Sunday matters more, but I am very happy for Matt. This has been a long time coming. I hope this is the first of many.

Stroll down Memory Lane with Matty Ice

BC loses recruit and other links

BC lost one of its verbals as Ohio prospect DeAri Todd switched to Michigan State. It seems like a higher percentage of BC recruits have to flipped away this year. Hopefully Addazio will steal a few from other schools in the next week or two before Signing Day.

The Women's Basketball team lost again. They are now 1-6 in ACC play.

The Women's Hockey team swept Vermont this weekend.

And finally, some BC guy is in the Super Bowl. I might have a thing or two to say about him in the next two weeks.

Matt Ryan should be the MVP

There are probably many Patriot fans reading this blog who think Tom Brady should be the NFL Most Valuable Player. Brady is great, but Ryan has been the best QB in football this season and leader of the NFL's most prolific offense.

I don't have a say, but here are some other people weighing in:

CBS: Matt Ryan lock for MVP?

Mike Florio: One key stat favors Matt Ryan for MVP

Football Outsiders: Matt Ryan Is the 2016 NFL MVP

Here's a list of QBs with a higher yards per attempt than Matt Ryan since 2000:

Kurt Warner, 2000 (Greatest Show on Turf)

That's it.

— HSAC (@Harvard_Sports) January 2, 2017

Why should any BC fan really care about who wins an NFL award? Aside from Matt being a passionate BC supporter, Matt winning helps BC. In the past 20 years -- even when we reached No. 2 -- there is always a perception and narrative problem with BC. We are nice little underdogs, but never elite. Matt has been shaking that perception too since he entered the NFL. Winning the NFL's top prize changes that perception for him and indirectly for BC.

BC produces great players. It would be nice for that to be recognized.

BC to retire Ryan, Kuechly's jerseys

In two separate ceremonies this fall, BC will retire the jerseys of Matt Ryan and Luke Kuechly. In the final paragraph of the release, BC explains:

Previously, Boston College has retired the numbers of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Doug Flutie and Outland Trophy winner Mike Ruth and the jerseys of eight other standouts: Art Donovan, Bill Flynn, Gene Goodreault, Mike Holovak, Lou Montgomery, Charles O'Rourke, Tony Thurman and Louis Urban.

Both Luke and Matt are great guys who followed great BC careers with great NFL careers. Both have given back to BC and serve as role models for the BC Football community. This honor is well deserved. However, I do have a few quibbles with the process and timing.

Retiring numbers in football is difficult logistically. The massive size of the roster necessitates recycling iconic numbers. Hence most teams use some sort of ring of honor. The eight numberless jerseys that are honored at Alumni are in the same concept. BC doesn't clarify whether or not Ryan and Kuechly's 12 and 40 will be permanently retired, yet both are out of use and seemingly reserved for retirement. I think Ryan and Kuechly should be retired, but their numbers should live on with new players. In my opinion, Flutie's 22 should be the only number not re-used. (I would argue that even Ruth's 58 was premature...but that is another subject.) While both Ryan and Kuechly were special, I don't think either deserve the ultimate honor and honoring them in that way now is a trend that glorifies the recent past (in all sports) over true history.

My second issue is that this honoring skips over too many guys who came between the Thurman-Flutie-Ruth eras and the Ryan-Kuechly ACC era. I think Herzlich and Kiwinuka were both conference players of the year and both had incredible college careers. I feel like they are not being honored like Ryan and Kuechly because their NFL careers did not reach the same heights. That shouldn't matter.

There might not be a Matt Ryan era if not for the rebound led by Glenn Foley. How is his jersey not retired? What about all the great offensive linemen who have protected BC's stars? Mike Cloud, Derrick Knight and Montel Harris all finished their respective BC careers as the school's all-time leading rusher. Some acknowledgement is deserved, not to mention what Andre Williams' accomplished. Tom Coughlin and Tom O'Brien deserved the same honor that Mike Holovak received. I could go on, but the point remains.

In the short term this will be a nice little boost of PR for the Football team. I hope it leads to clarification of what BC is honoring --  "jersey vs number" -- and a whole new group of other players getting the recognition they deserve.

Addazio talks to the media and and other links

Addazio held his normal Monday press conference. He seemed a little defensive about the criticism of the offensive line. I agree with Daz that there was some good line play. It just wasn't as consistent as we need. He also thinks that Thadd Smith has real upside.

BC alums Matt Ryan and Luke Kuechly sell a lot of NFL jerseys.

Women's Soccer lost to St. John's.

NFL rosters are still being tweaked, but there is still good news for former Eagles. Tyler Murphy is on the Steelers' roster Brian Mihalik and Chris Pantale made the Eagles practice squad.

Both Men's and Women's Golf had decent starts to their seasons. The men finished 5th at Turning Stone. The women were fourth at the Red Bird Invitational.

Analytical love for Matt Ryan and other links

With the cliched talk of "elite" QBs, I feel like I am constantly defending Matt Ryan. The only person who might be a bigger defender of Ryan is Grantland's Bill Barnwell. Barnwell has Ryan in his Top 10 and ahead of Brady, Brees and Eli. I hope the Falcons bounce back this year, but more importantly I hope casual fans start to realize how well Ryan has played the past few years. Kuechly also made Barnwell's Top 25.

Andy Gallik made the Preseason All ACC team.

Earlier in the week EDSBS assigned parts of our galaxy to ACC teams. The BC analogy is probably fair.

Steele Divitto is ready for Jets Training Camp.

Miami is recruiting New England players this cycle.

Another recruit and other links

Florida Athlete Michael Walker committed to Addazio Tuesday. He is under the radar and smallish, but does hold an offer from Arizona.

Tampa Bay cut Emmett Cleary. He still has plenty of time to catch on with another team.

Florida Athlete Michael Walker committed to Addazio Tuesday. He is under the radar and smallish, but does hold an offer from Arizona.

Like many of us, Matt Ryan is also a BC sports fan.

Thatcher Demko posted another update to his blog as he preps for the NHL Draft.

The best thing you will read about Matt Ryan all summer

Although I don't let it creep onto the blog much, in my day-to-day and on twitter, I feel like I am always defending Matt Ryan. Even after last year's playoff run, there are those who say he can't and won't win the big one. I still believe and think this great feature on CBS Sports is a sign of how close Matt has been and that he knows what he needs to do to win it all.

The feature is heavy on Xs and Os, but Matt's knowledge of the game isn't what gives me hope. Most QBs should be able to breakdown a play. What stood out to me instead was Matt's defense and trust of his teammates and willingness to carry the blame. He doesn't call out his line or guys who dropped passes. He also explains his mentality within the game. Matt's looking for the big play but understands a lot of offense is taking what is given. If Matt keeps playing the percentages as well as he does, one day he will be on top.

Who had it best?

After yesterday's post on the worst of times, I thought it might make sense to determine whose four years on the Heights were the best. As always leave your opinion below.


Class of 2008

• Four winning and exciting seasons of Football
• Matt Ryan's various comebacks topped off by the Virginia Tech game
• The final year in Big East basketball and our strong start
• The Sweet 16 run in 2006
• GameDay on campus for basketball and football
• A National Championship in Hockey
• The move to the ACC

The only dark clouds during this four years were all about the near misses. We almost went to the Fiesta Bowl when they were freshmen. We almost won the ACC Tournament against Duke in 2006. We lost the ACC Championship. We came up short in a few Frozen Fours. But overall this was a great four year run.

Class of 1994

• David Gordon's kick
• Knocking off North Carolina en route to the Elite Eight
• The rise of Tom Coughlin
• A Thrilling Beanpot win in 1994

The highs for this group were really high, but there was also plenty of lowpoints. Hockey endured the Cedorchuck mess. Prior to the Elite Eight run, JOB's basketball teams underachieved. Football was great but they still only witnessed two winning seasons.

Class of 1985

• Four years of Doug Flutie culminating with the Heisman and Miracle in Miami
• A Frozen Four appearance in 1985
• Four really good basketball years, including one Elite Eight and one Sweet 16
• One Beanpot title

In my opinion this was probably the ultimate time to be a BC fan. The Flutie years changed so much about the school and where were are today. Flutie was also the most exciting player in college sports. That is something we've never come close to recapturing. He also was embraced within Boston. Maybe that had more to do with him being from Natick than BC capturing the imagination of the locals, but that added to the moment. The basketball run was very underrated too. BC was playing really good basketball and the Big East was at its apex. 

Matt Ryan makes Pro Bowl and other links

The NFL announced its Pro Bowl rosters and Matt Ryan was the lone BC guy to get the invite to Hawaii. While I tweet on the topic, I rarely mention the media narrative building around Ryan. Even here in Atlanta -- where you figure the fanbase would all be defenders -- there are still plenty of Matt Ryan critics. The Pro Bowl is a nice honor, but no one aside from some true believers (like most BC fans) will put Matt in the "great" category until he wins something in the postseason. UPDATE: Chris Snee was also named to the Pro Bowl.

Nick Clancy signed with an agent and is projected to be a late round pick. 

In case you missed it, ESPN's ACC crew predict we won't be bowling in 2013. I am not ready to make a prediction one way or the other yet, but our schedule is now pretty favorable. 

A rising Massachusetts baseball star committed to BC. He won't graduate from high school until 2015. 

Olivier Hanlan was named Co-ACC Rookie of the Week. 

Bruce Feldman likes the staff we are building. 

ALJ wasn't the only bad news and other links

Losing Louis-Jean wasn't the only rough news of the day. BC's highest rated commitment was Tight End Andrew Isaacs. The Connecticut native switched to Maryland. None of this came as a real surprise as Isaacs had hinted at flipping for months. Let's hope Spaz uses the open scholarship to bring in a high impact players.

Matt Ryan is still mentoring Dominique Davis.

CBS named the following guys as potential X Factors.

What if: Matt vs Matt

The above is a twitter exchange between Matt Hassellbeck and Matt Ryan. It's a harmless series of tweets but it got me thinking about what if the Matts had been on campus at the same time.


Outside of their NFL pedigrees, the Matts had a lot in common. Both were tall, well-rounded recruits from Northeast private schools. Both had decent offers aside from BC, but neither were considered top recruits. But where I think their BC careers become very similar is their ability to shine through QB controversies.

Hasselbeck earned starts as a redshirt sophomore. Only the following season saw him lose his spot in the preseason to Scott Mutryn. Hasselbeck persevered, pulled out a game in Hawaii and never looked back.

Ryan also endured a frustrating QB controversy. He won games as a back up, lost his job when Quinton Porter came back and then earned the job back. As we know, once Ryan earned the job, it was his for the next two and a half years.

But what if...what if Hasselbeck and Ryan had competed for the BC job at the same time. Who would have prevailed in this hypothetical QB controversy? Both could take big hits. Both proved they could adapt to new offenses. Both had the leadership intangibles. It would be a tough choice. Hasselbeck was more mobile. As a college player, Ryan had the better arm and proved to be great under pressure. I think if it came down to it, I would have to go with Matty Ice.

Matt Ryan finally starts tweeting

As I tweeted earlier today, my neighbor and fellow Eagle Matt Ryan has finally started tweeting. Day 1 consisted mostly of Atlanta media and BC shout-outs. You can also follow Mrs. Ryan, who also still has her tabs on BC sports.

Getting ready for the ACC meetings and other links

BC is absent from the burnings questions facing the ACC this year. It seems that the media is either predicting big things for us or ignoring BC as usual. There is no in between.

The Daily Press thinks we will finish third in the division.

On this page you will find an interview Matt Ryan did with an Atlanta radio station a few days ago. In it he recounts his first start against Syracuse.

Matt Ryan in his own words

Matt Ryan filled in for Peter King, in King's Monday Morning Quarterback column. He acquits himself well. His one BC note is that he thinks BC will do well this year and is excited for Herzy.

Note to Matt: if you liked that and want to blog more, we can always find space for you here!

Strength of Schedule and other links

Although he's been wrong more than right regarding BC, I still give Phil Steele a lot of credit for his preview work and his magazine. He is now releasing stats in advance of the magazine's May arrival. This stat places BC's strength of schedule at 53rd nationally.

Steve Donahue hasn't coached a game at BC yet, but ESPN already thinks we are a tournament team. They are also assuming we will have a 96 team field next season.

NESN caught up with Matt Ryan as he recounted his draft day experience.

I think this ranking underrates Tennant a bit. I think he is arguably the best or second best center in the draft.