Philly made Matt Ryan tough

[HMFFL]

His isn't the easiest of situations, replacing a polarizing and electric quarterback in a town divided, trying to resurrect a franchise that has endured the toughest two years imaginable. But Matt Ryan is unfazed by the task.

He has Philadelphia to thank for that.

The young Ryan, only 23, is, like most sports fans from this city, tortured and tested. He's watched players come and players go, spit out and chewed up by the proverbial meat grinder. As a devout fan of the four major professional sports franchises here, Ryan has seen more lows than highs, and he saw the worst that can happen as Donovan McNabb was booed at the NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall.

So the pressure of that six-year, $72 million contract he signed last month with the Atlanta Falcons and the expectations that deal hoisted on his shoulders is nothing.

"If there's one thing I learned growing up in that area it's that you can't worry about" expectations, Ryan said by telephone from Atlanta last week. "You can't even think about it. If you do, if you get caught up in it, it can only distract you. For me, I certainly have high expectations for myself and what I want to accomplish as a player. You have to live up to those expectations, and that's really the way I've gone about it."

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