Opportunity at CBS was ‘too good’ for Matt Ryan to pass up

Matt Ryan is still getting used to the fact that he’ll work as an analyst for CBS Sports and their NFL coverage this fall.

Ryan hasn’t officially retired from football and he’s not shutting the door on a potential opportunity to play quarterback again. While the 38-year-old would play again in the right situation, it was hard for him to pass up on becoming the latest NFL quarterback to join the CBS broadcast lineup.

As per a CBS release, Ryan will appear as an analyst for select games and many of their different studio shows.

“The opportunity that CBS has given me to do a little bit of everything, to me, it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up,” Ryan recently said on an episode of Audacy Sports’ Take Command podcast. “It gives me a chance to find out number one, what I’m OK at, what I’m decent at. And number two, what I’m interested in… Whether that be being in the studio or calling games. The unique setup of the opportunity intrigued me. The people that I have the opportunity to learn from while I’m up there whether it be in New York or whether it be calling games. All of the stars aligned for it.”

Ryan said that he’s learned throughout his 15-year NFL playing career that “a lot of crazy things can happen during the season.” Obviously, Ryan is hinting at potential injuries that come with playing the game of football and how teams have had to make contingency plans in the past at the quarterback position; a la Jay Cutler putting off a broadcasting career to sign with the Miami Dolphins in 2017. So, as he’s hinted multiple times now, he’s not shutting the door on returning under center, which explains the nature of his unique set-up with CBS. We’ll have to see if NFL teams feel the same way.

“I’m excited to start working with the folks at CBS and to start diving into this next chapter,” Ryan said.

Ryan had always thought about a broadcasting career, but he said when you’re playing quarterback at such a high level, it’s so far in the back of your mind. After a disastrous first season with the Indianapolis Colts, Ryan had the opportunity to go up to New York and do some studio work with CBS during the 2022 NFL playoffs.

“It intrigued me. It really did,” he said. “I think it started to scratch that itch that I’ve found somewhere deep in the back of my brain.”

For Ryan, it all kind of just aligned. There’s a definite interest in calling games, which he said would be an interesting challenge, as well as partaking in CBS’ studio shows.

“The ability to do both this first year and really get a feel for what makes sense long-term, I feel lucky… I feel a bit like a kid going to college where I have no idea what my major is going to be but I get to take a bunch of those courses and begin to figure out what I like and go from there,” said Ryan.

Now, as Ryan jokingly said, he can finally put his communications degree from Boston College to use.

[Take Command; photo from Robert Scheer/IndyStar]