By D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Flowery Branch — Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who helped guide the team to an improbable second place finish in the NFC South and a playoff berth, was named the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year today.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Ryan said Tuesday, when he was told he won the award. “It’s a great honor and to tell you the truth, I’m pretty humbled by it.”
Ryan was a hit right from the beginning of the season. He became the first Falcon rookie quarterback to start a season opener since Steve Bartkowski in 1975.
“I’m very proud of Matt’s accomplishments, accelerated maturity and very evident leadership skills while at the helm in his first year as a professional quarterback,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said.
Ryan’s first pass as a Falcon went for a 62-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins in the season opener against Detroit.
Ryan didn’t slow down, playing well beyond his years.
In just his sixth start, Ryan rallied the Falcons to victory over Chicago in the final 11 seconds.
Ryan remained steady throughout the season while completing 265 of 434 passes for 3,440 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Ryan won the starting job with his fine play in the preseason. He earned the respect of the veterans on the team early on with his leadership and ability to digest the Falcons playbook.
The coaches didn’t spoon feed Ryan the attack and had him calling his own plays and working out of no-huddle attack from the second game of the season.
Ryan won the award over Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco, who also was a rookie starter who helped the Ravens reached the AFC playoffs.
Flacco guided the Ravens to an identical 11-5 record and second place finish in the AFC North. He completed 257 of 428 passes for 2,971 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Only Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger won more games as a rookie starting quarterback than Ryan and Flacco since 1960. The Steelers won 13 regular season games under Roethlisberger.
Ryan and Flacco joined Rick Mirer, Peyton Manning and David Carr as the only rookie quarterbacks to start 16 games.
Other contenders for the award included Tennessee running back Chris Johnson, Denver wide receiver Eddie Royal, Chicago running back Matt Forte and Houston running back Steve Slaton.
