Matt Ryan ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 22: Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons reacts after a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome on January 22, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Matt Ryan called it a career on Monday.

The former longtime Atlanta Falcons quarterback had been with CBS Sports this past season after unofficially exiting the league. Ryan put all doubt to rest that he’d return back to the NFL on Monday. The former Boston College standout officially called it a career.

Ryan’s retirement announcement came in the form of a video that the 2016 NFL MVP posted on X.

“Atlanta… the Falcons… football… thank you!” Ryan said. He penned a message through a special video.

In 2008, the Falcons drafted Ryan as their next franchise quarterback. Ryan led the team to its most prominent run ever. They appeared in the NFL Playoffs six times with Ryan at the helm. Ryan also led the franchise to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time ever in 2008 and 2009, his first and second years in the league.

Ryan also commanded the Falcons to two No. 1 seeds and then a Super Bowl appearance in 2016. We… will not go any further on that.

What’s important to note, though, is that Ryan is almost undoubtedly the best quarterback in Falcons history. Only Michael Vick made as much of an impact for the franchise. Ryan had a brilliant career under center and now likely heads off to CBS for the immediate future.

Best of luck to Matt Ryan in retirement! The NFL world had much to say about his announcement.

[Matt Ryan on X]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022