Matt Ryan took 488 sacks during his NFL career, but when Dan Patrick asked which one stuck with him most, the former MVP didn’t hesitate. It wasn’t about the pain or the hits that knocked him down. It was about the one moment that still haunts him, the sack fumble that helped derail Atlanta’s Super Bowl dreams.
Which Sack Does Matt Ryan Wish He Could Take Back?
During his recent appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Ryan found himself in familiar territory when Patrick and co-host Paul Pabst brought up his career sack total. Patrick opened with a light-hearted jab: “Matt sacked 500 times, Paulie?” Pabst quickly corrected him: “Uh, 488 times he was sacked in his career.”
Ryan, still smiling, responded, “Why would he? I feel pretty good.” When Patrick added, “You withstood it. Look at you,” Ryan reiterated, “Yeah, I still feel pretty good. I can still swing the golf club, which is good.”
The conversation took a more serious turn when Patrick asked whether any one of those nearly 500 sacks stood out. Ryan paused before pointing to the moment football fans are unlikely to forget: the infamous sack fumble in the Super Bowl.
“I’d say the sack fumble in the Super Bowl is probably the one that,” Ryan began before Pabst jumped in: “Oh, I wasn’t going there.”
But Ryan didn’t shy away from the topic. Instead, he leaned into it with the kind of honesty that defined his career. “Listen, I think sometimes you got to get in front of it, right? If you’re the guy, you just got to go in front of it. So if you’re asking me about one of them, Dan, I would probably say that’s the one I would like to have not been sacked on.”
What Was Matt Ryan Trying to Do on That Super Bowl Play?
That Super Bowl sack occurred during one of the most dramatic collapses in the game’s history and remains etched in NFL memory. For Ryan, it represented more than just a turnover. It was a turning point in a game Atlanta once led comfortably.
When Patrick pressed for details about the play call, Ryan admitted he couldn’t recall the specifics. “That’s a good question. I don’t remember the exact play call offhand.” However, he vividly remembered the situation and what he was trying to accomplish.
“We had Aldrick Robinson run the corner that was coming out like the top of this. And he was going to be open… trying to hang on for that extra second. Give him a chance to make a play,” Ryan explained.
When asked if it could have been a touchdown, the former quarterback responded, “I think there was a chance, but it would have been a chunk play for sure.” While he couldn’t recall the exact terminology, he clarified that it was a “designer play for that week,” not one of their routine calls like “gun trips, right? Three jet jaws extra.”
Despite the lighthearted setting of the radio show, Ryan’s reflection offered a candid look into how one moment can linger long after a career filled with countless others. His willingness to address the play head-on showed the same leadership that defined his time in Atlanta, even when discussing the most painful memory of his career.
