It turns out all Matt Ryan needed to improve on his MVP season in 2016 was a healthy dose of failure. That means blowing a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl 51 should make Ryan unreal in 2017.
Matt Ryan is using blown Super Bowl as motivation in new Gatorade commercial
If failure is the key to success, Matt Ryan is destined for really big things after Super Bowl 51.
In a new ad campaign by Gatorade, several of the world’s greatest athletes — including Michael Jordan and Serena Williams — say they used failure to reach new highs with the company using the slogan “Make Defeat Your Fuel.”
For J.J. Watt, it was his inability to secure a scholarship as a two-star high school recruit. For Peyton Manning, it was a 3-13 season as a rookie. And for Eli Manning, it was a league lead in interceptions — something he’s done three times, which counts for three times the motivation, I suppose.
Ryan, 32, doesn’t have much to improve on in 2017. He threw 38 touchdowns with seven interceptions and led the NFL with a 117.1 passer rating. But the 2016 season for the Falcons will forever be tied to the team’s historic collapse against the New England Patriots.
In the commercial, Ryan is shown walking off the field at the Super Bowl in disappointment and using the moment to hit the practice field at the Falcons’ facility with a whole new vigor.
Earlier in June, Ryan told reporters he and the rest of the Falcons were done dwelling on the past and are solely focused on the future. Apparently that’s not quite the case if Ryan is fueling himself with the memory of the loss.
If the failure of that moment at Super Bowl 51 is supposed to lead to bigger things for Ryan, better stats aren’t going to do it. The only satisfactory ending for the Falcons and Ryan has to be a Lombardi Trophy.
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