Matt Ryan could become the greatest sports figure in Atlanta history
By Joe Beasley
Matt Ryan is already among the best in Atlanta sports history.
The Atlanta Falcons franchise was in complete turmoil before they drafted Matt Ryan back in 2008. Since then, the Falcons have enjoyed the most success in franchise history by far. There is a good chance that Ryan can go down as the greatest sports figure in Atlanta sports history.
The Atlanta Falcons and the Hawks have been void of achieving the ultimate success in their respective sports. The cities only two titles belong to the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta United FC. If Ryan is able to lead this team to a Super Bowl championship, he will leapfrog every professional athlete that has played in Atlanta.
Who is his competition now?
Hank Aaron more than likely stands at the top of this list due to the fact he spends his career playing for the Braves and is still the undisputed home run king regardless of what the record books say.
There are a plethora of great players for the Braves such as Chipper Jones, Greg Maddox, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. These guys could have the leg up on Ryan due to the fact they brought home the World Series in 1995.
For the Atlanta Hawks, you have Dominique Wilkins, who is the best player in franchise history as well as Pistol Pete Maravich. Wilkins, just like Ryan, was the best player on the Hawks in the ’80s but couldn’t lead them to a championship.
Evander Holyfield is a former world champion boxer, but the sport of boxing isn’t as popular as it once. As great as Holyfield was, people, talk more about the Tyson incident than his work in the ring.
Matt Ryan still has time to bring Atlanta a Lombardi Trophy
With Ryan still playing at a high level, it’s very possible he could end up as the best even without winning a championship because the city of Atlanta hasn’t experienced the success of cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and the state of New York.
Ryan has led the team to two conference championship games and a Super Bowl. Had Ryan won the Super Bowl, Matt Ryan would be the greatest sports figure in the cities history. The Falcons beating the Patriots would have been like the Hawks beating the Lakers in the ’80s or the Braves beating the Yankees in the mid to late 90s-early 2000s.
There will be some people who will lose their mind over this discussion only because they would have to accept the fact that is very possible the player they love to hate could go down as the best Atlanta sports figure of all time.
Next. Seems like the Atlanta Falcons are Arthur Blank’s red-headed step-child. dark
While the idea of this seems farfetched, there is a possibility that it could happen.
He’s already the greatest player in franchise history and as long as the Falcons win and those numbers pile up, he will end up being the greatest in the cities history when he hangs it up for good in the next few years.