Ask anyone what nickname belongs to Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and the answer will come back quickly: Matty Ice. But how that nickname came to be remains a bit of a clouded mystery with foggy memories at best to rely on, dating back to Ryan’s high school days.
Ryan picked up the nickname of Matty Ice before he ripped things up at Boston College and became a high draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons. His high school teammates came up with the nickname, but who came up with it first is up for debate, as is the exact reason why the nickname came to be. Was it just a cool nickname to define Ryan’s stone cold leadership, a reference to how calm Ryan remains under pressure, or is a cheap beer to credit for the nickname?
“It wasn’t a moment where Matt Ryan is sitting drinking a Natty Ice and that’s how it came about,” Ryan’s former teammate at Penn Charter School in Philadelphia Billy McKinney said. “I can’t give credence to a story where Matt was doing something Natty Ice-related and that’s how the name got to him.”
McKinney did share a story about a time the mouthy wide receiver begged Ryan to have the ball thrown his way. At an early stage, Ryan was not afraid to get in his receiver’s face when running the offense.
“My senior year, when Matt comes in as a sophomore, I remember him throwing the ball to our other receiver. I came back and gave him a hard time about it, like, ‘Dude, just throw me the ball.’ I’m thinking he’s just going to look at me like, ‘Yeah, OK.’
“He grabbed my facemask and was like, ‘No, I’m going to throw the ball to who I want to throw it to.’ The origin wasn’t so much he’s clutch and cool as ice. It was more like it’s the Iceman, he’s all business. It’s his way or the highway.”
Maybe this was how the nickname came to be? Like wondering how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know. On Sunday, the Patriots will see if they can thaw Matty Ice in the Super Bowl.
[ESPN.com]
