Patrick Lee Ryan (born September 16, 1955) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for 14 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

and the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

and was selected by the Jets in the 11th round of the

1978 NFL draft The 1978 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

. After his playing career, he became a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

on the Vol Radio Network, broadcasting games for his alma mater.

Biography

Ryan was born in

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, Reno County, Kansas, United States. The city is located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887 (thus its nickname of "Salt City") but locals ...

and attended Putnam City High School in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. He played

at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. Ryan was selected in the 11th round of the

by the

. He played professionally for 13 seasons, 12 with the New York Jets and one with the

. Ryan was primarily a backup, seeing just 15 snaps in his first four years. His one significant season was in 1984, when he started 11 games for the Jets. He went 6–5 while throwing 14 touchdowns and fourteen interceptions for 1,939 yards. During the 1986-87 NFL playoffs, Ryan started for the Jets against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

in the wild-card round. He threw three touchdown passes in a 35–15 Jets victory, their first playoff win in four years. The following week during the divisional round against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

, Ryan threw a 42-yard touchdown on a

flea-flicker In American football, the flea flicker is an unorthodox or "trick play" designed to fool the defensive team into thinking that a play is a run instead of a pass. It can be considered an extreme variant of the play-action pass and an extension ...

to give the Jets a 7–0 first quarter lead. However, he suffered an injury that knocked him out in the second quarter (leading to the return of

Ken O'Brien Kenneth John O'Brien Jr. (born November 27, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. One of the six quarterbacks in the f ...

, who had started the regular season as quarterback), and the Jets would ultimately lose it 23–20 in double overtime, the third longest playoff game in NFL history at that time. After being cut by the Browns in the summer before the 1990 season, Ryan was working as a general contractor. The

asked him to come out of retirement as starter Randall Cunningham and backup Jim McMahon were injured. He signed with the team in September 1991 and was deployed in their Monday Night Football matchup versus the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

at 36 years old. He completed four passes, threw three interceptions, and was sacked twice in a 23–0 loss. Ryan was waived in favor of former Seattle backup Jeff Kemp that October.

Life after the NFL

Ryan was employed as a

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

radio broadcasts from 1999 to 2004. He is now a home builder in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. He later worked as a football analyst for the University of Tennessee's Vol Radio Network, cohosting the weekly "Big Orange Hotline," and joining Bob Kesling, Tim Priest, and John Wilkerson on the "Kickoff Call-In Show" prior to UT football games. In June 2021, Ryan became the color analyst for Tennessee Volunteers football following the announcement that Tim Priest would be retiring.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Pat 1955 births Living people American football quarterbacks NFL announcers New York Jets players Sportspeople from Hutchinson, Kansas Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Kansas Tennessee Titans announcers Tennessee Volunteers football players

Biography

Life after the NFL

See also

References

External links