The season might be over for the Atlanta Falcons (7-9), but Matt Ryan is still getting some air time.
Sort of.
Ryan's high school persona will be featured in the new ABC sitcom "Schooled," which debuts at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The show's creator and executive producer, Adam F. Goldberg, attended the same William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia where Ryan starred as a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball. Goldberg also created the popular 1980s-based sitcom called "The Goldbergs."
In Wednesday's episode, entitled "Be Like Mike," there is an exchange between Coach Rick Mellor, played by Bryan Callen, and Matty, played by Hunter Doohan, in which Matty talks about wanting to be a basketball star, following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan. Mellor, who has been at Penn Charter more than 40 years as a teacher and coach, coached Ryan in baseball.
Ryan played small forward on the Penn Charter basketball team. His football coach, Brian McCloskey, once said he wouldn't have counted Ryan out had the 6-foot-4, 217-pound Ryan decided to pursue a professional basketball career.
It's safe to say Ryan fared rather well sticking with football.
The former triple-option quarterback was the NFL's MVP during the 2016 season. Ryan finished this past season with 4,924 passing yards, his second-highest total behind his MVP season (4,944). Plus, Ryan currently sits 12th on the all-time passing list with 46,720 yards.
And now he has a TV character based on him. Not bad.
