Matt Ryan Shares Thoughts on Chances of Being in Pro Football Hall of Fame (Exclusive)
Matt Ryan recently became the 10th player in NFL history to throw 350 touchdown passes in his career. With that, along with his 56,757 career passing yards and winning the NFL MVP in 2016, Ryan has a shot at reaching the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his career is all said and done. PopCulture.com recently caught up with the Atlanta Falcons quarterback and asked him if he has ever thought about his chances of reaching the Hall of Fame.
"It's not on my mind right now," Ryan told PopCulture. "I think that I've always felt like if you're worrying about those kinds of things or worrying about too far down the line, you're not worrying about what's important, and to me, I think I've always operated best when I keep my vision really tight and really small and focus on just what's in front of my face this week, of trying to be the best player I can be this week to give ourselves a chance to win games and I always thought that if you do it that way, the other things fall into place, and you might have records or you might get accolades, those kind of things fall into place if you handle your business the way that you need to."
Ryan is ranked in the top 10 all-time in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Along with winning the MVP award, Ryan has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times and was named First-Team All-Pro in 2016. He also won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2008 after leading the Falcons to an 11-5 record and their first playoff appearance since 2004. And while the game didn't end the way he wanted to, Ryan led the Falcons to a Super Bowl appearance in 2016.
When asked about his career, Ryan said he never thought he would be as productive as he had been when he started his NFL career. "It was trying to play good the first year. Make sure I'm still on the team in a couple of years. That's kind of the motivation at the beginning.
"You just don't know how it's going to go when you come in. There's so much unknown and I always just wanted to win and that really hasn't changed and so, I'm definitely proud of some of the accomplishments that I've had up until this point in my career but the number one thing is trying to win a championship and that's what still keeps me motivated at this point."