NFL quarterback-turned-CBS broadcaster Matt Ryan has had one of the strangest last 18 months of anyone in the league, and he’s put it pretty plainly for how it’s gone.
Speaking with The Athletic’s Josh Kendall, the future Pro Football Hall of Fame contender described what it was like to be traded, seemingly at the drop of a hat, from the Atlanta Falcons to the Indianapolis Colts in 2022, a season that turned into a dumpster fire for reasons outside of Ryan’s control.
That lone year in Indianapolis has now transitioned into Ryan working for CBS Sports as an NFL broadcaster, a far cry from where he was with the Falcons going into the 2022 offseason.
To Ryan, the whole ordeal was, well, we’ll let him take it from here.
Some NSFW language to follow.
“I mean, it was a s— show, you know, it was a s— show of 18 months basically is the best way to describe it,” Ryan told The Athletic. “But I think everybody in our family handled it well and came out of it stronger and in a really good spot.”
That ill-fated season with the Colts, one where coach Frank Reich was fired midseason in exchange for inexperienced head coach Jeff Saturday, is one Ryan said he’s really never experienced before in his career.
However, Ryan spoke highly of Saturday despite the whole season going awry.
“I really like Jeff Saturday. He’s a great guy, and I’ve known him for a long time,” Ryan said. “He is a good person, knows football inside and out. He’s all of those things, competitive, good leader of men, but then he gets hired to come in and coach the team for the second half of the season and you know that’s a pretty impossible situation.”
Ryan now has greener pastures ahead as he’ll join Tiki Barber and Andrew Catalon on CBS, and he’s got a great reason to do so without declaring his retirement: $12 million from the Colts he’s still owed as an active player.
However, Ryan also said he’s open to an NFL return if the right opportunity opens up.