Sarah Ryan: Matt Ryan’s Wife Takes A Rare Jump Into The Spotlight As Atlanta Falcons Near Super Bowl

Sarah Ryan will find herself in a bit of a strange place this weekend — right in the spotlight.

The wife of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, Sarah has been known for her preference to stay out of the way and let her husband take the attention. But with the Falcons reaching the doorstep of the Super Bowl, Sarah Ryan can’t help but get into the spotlight at least a bit.

She has been mentioned in profiles of Matt Ryan and will undoubtedly earn some television time this weekend — especially if the Falcons can beat the Green Bay Packers and advance to the Super Bowl.

Sarah Ryan isn’t totally unprepared for the big stage. She is a former athlete herself, playing on the Boston College women’s basketball team (under her maiden name, Sarah Marshall).

But Sarah Ryan is unaccustomed to the big spotlight. Though Ryan has been the franchise quarterback in Atlanta for a decade and earned the nickname “Matty Ice” for his cool-headed comebacks, he is not a big name like the remaining quarterbacks during conference championship weekend.

But as the New York Times noted in a rare profile of Matt Ryan, that doesn’t seem to bother him much.

“Matt has always flown under the radar,” Brian McCloskey, Ryan’s high school football coach at William Penn Charter School, told the New York Times.

“He’d rather it be that way,” McCloskey continued. “If you want to talk just about him, it’s going to be a short conversation.”

The New York Times profile even mentioned Sarah Ryan — noting that the two prefer to live quietly outside of the field.

In the meantime, along with his wife, Sarah, who was a point guard on Boston College’s women’s basketball team, Ryan goes about his off-the-field life uneventfully.

“I’m kind of boring,” Matt Ryan was quoted.

While Sarah Ryan mostly avoids the spotlight, she and Matt Ryan have been known to make headlines once in a while. In the last offseason, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback and his wife went on vacation with a good friend and sometimes rival — Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford and Stafford’s wife, Kelly.

As Sports World News noted, Kelly Stafford shared some pictures of the tropical getaway.

“NFL quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford may be rivals on the gridiron, but that didn’t stop them from palling around this summer during the offseason. The two signal callers and their wives went on a couple’s vacation to the Bahamas and seemed to have a lot of fun together.

“Kelly Stafford posted a picture on Instagram of the foursome enjoying their vacation. In the photo, Ryan has his wife, Sarah, on his back, while Stafford has Kelly on his. According to Stafford’s wife’s caption, it was an ‘epic’ trip.”

The pictures showed Matt Stafford and his wife getting some sun while enjoying the company of another top NFL quarterback.

This year, Matt Stafford got his vacation started a bit earlier. He and the Detroit Lions lost in the wild card round, but Matt Ryan entered the final weekend with a chance to make his first Super Bowl and what would be the second in the team’s history.

And if the Atlanta Falcons can manage to win on Sunday, Matt Ryan’s wife Sarah will be getting plenty more attention. For two weeks, there would be no forgetting Sarah Marshall.

[Featured Image by Moses Robinson/Getty Images]