 Ryan with theLos Angeles Rams in 1959 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 13, 15 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1936-07-12)July 12, 1936 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | January 1, 2024(2024-01-01) (aged 87) Waterford, Connecticut, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 199 lb (90 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | R. L. Paschal (Fort Worth) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Rice (1954–1957) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1958: 5th round, 55th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Frank Beall Ryan (July 12, 1936 – January 1, 2024) was an American professionalfootball player who was aquarterback in theNational Football League (NFL) for theLos Angeles Rams (1958–1961),Cleveland Browns (1962–1968), andWashington Redskins (1969–1970). He playedcollege football for theRice Owls. A three-timePro Bowl selection with Cleveland, Ryan led the Browns to their most recentNational Football League title in 1964. He was also a mathematician, serving as a faculty member atCase Western Reserve University from 1967 to 1974.
Ryan was born on July 12, 1936, inFort Worth, Texas.[1] Ryan was named for his grandfather Frank Beall, a noted surgeon in Fort Worth, and was the second child of Frances (Beall) Ryan and Robert Willing Ryan Sr.[2] Ryan played football while attendingR. L. Paschal High School in Fort Worth. He was later inducted into theFort Worth Independent School District Wall of Fame.[3]
He was recruited by college coaches from across the country, includingBear Bryant then coaching atTexas A&M,[3] and he was admitted toYale University. Ryan declared a major in physics atRice University,[4] becoming the first in his family not to go to Yale.[5] He was unable to establish himself at quarterback during the course of hiscollegiate career, splitting time behindcenter withKing Hill,[6] who was receiving most of thesnaps, with Ryan as the second-string quarterback. Ryan did come in for a faltering Hill in the1958 Cotton Bowl onNew Year's Day to throw a touchdown pass, though eventually losing toNavy.[1] In November 1957, Ryan also played a key role in Rice's upsetting Bryant's top ranked Texas A&M team to win theSouthwestern Conference title for Rice. Rice ended the year ranked eighth in the nation by the Associated Press.[7]
Given his desire to obtain a Ph.D., Ryan originally decided not to playprofessional football after theLos Angeles Rams chose him in the fifth round of the1958 NFL draft. He changed his mind after he was able to enroll at bothUCLA and theUniversity of California, Berkeley in pursuit of an advanced degree. Ryan then transferred back to Rice, where he studied during the off-season.[8] Ryan's college teammate Hill was drafted first overall in the 1958 draft by theChicago Cardinals,[3] and future Cleveland teammate quarterbackJim Ninowski was selected by the Browns in the fourth round.[7]
Ryan spent the first four years of his career primarily in a reserve capacity, making $12,000 per year.[8] He didstart a handful of games in competition withBilly Wade andZeke Bratkowski.[7] In1961, he and futureHall of FamerOllie Matson connected on a 96-yardtouchdownreception,[3] establishing a new team record. However, after sitting on the bench for the last four games of the 1961 season, Ryan stormed into the dressing room and threatened General ManagerElroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch that he was going to quit football if he were not traded. He became part of a multi-player deal with theCleveland Browns on July 12, 1962,[7] his 26th birthday, as the arrival of highly touted newcomerRoman Gabriel, whom the Rams selected with the second overall pick in the 1962 draft,[9] made Ryan expendable. Ironically, the Rams did not start Gabriel during his first four years.[9]
Acquired to back up startingquarterback Jim Ninowski, Ryan moved into the starting slot on October 28 when Ninowski broke hiscollarbone while beingtackled byPittsburgh Steelers'defensive linemanEugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb.[1][10] With no other candidates to compete with, Ryan established his leadership and held on to the starting role for much of the next six seasons. In his first full season as a starter,1963, Ryan threw for 2,026 yards and 25 touchdowns with only 13interceptions,[11] helping the Browns to a 10–4 record.[12] Thirteen of those touchdowns went toGary Collins, who tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns that year.[13]
In1964, Ryan established himself as one of the league's best passers. He threw for 2,404 yards and repeated his 1963 performance by completing 25 touchdown passes, which was enough to lead the league.[1] Ryan had excellent company on the Browns offense:fullbackJim Brown;wide receivers Gary Collins and hall of famerPaul Warfield; and an outstandingoffensive line which includedDick Schafrath,John Morrow,John Wooten,Monte Clark, and future Hall of FamerGene Hickerson.[14] But Ryan was also a clutch performer during the Browns' memorable 10–3–1 season. Needing a win in the December 12 regular season finale against theNew York Giants to clinch a berth in the NFL title game, Ryan completed 12 of 13 passes for five touchdowns and ran for a sixth touchdown in the 52–20 win.[15] Two weeks later in the championship game against theBaltimore Colts, Ryan hit Collins for three touchdowns to win the title, 27–0.[16]
Ryan was rewarded for his performance with the first of three straightPro Bowl appearances. Unfortunately, on the first play of the second half, he suffered a severe shoulder injury in the game after the combined 800-pound trio ofPackerWillie Davis,LionRoger Brown and ColtGino Marchetti converged on the signal caller, resulting in a significant injury compounded by poor medical treatment. Speculation persists to this day that Marchetti went out of his way to injure Ryan due to the perception that the quarterbackran up the score in the championship, with Marchetti's statement that he wanted "one more shot" at Ryan also fueling the rumors. Ryan himself held no malice toward Marchetti, and said that he should not have tried to score an unnecessary touchdown in the 1964 championship game, which rightfully angered Marchetti.[16] However, a study of the film by Cleveland coaches in the weeks after the game exonerated Marchetti.
After winning the championship, Art Modell raised his salary to $25,000, up from about $18,000 per season.[8]
Ryan's numbers dropped in1965, throwing for only 1,751 yards and 18 touchdowns.[11] While his shoulder had completely healed, a soreelbow intraining camp and an injuredarch early in the regular season played a role in his completing fewer than half of his passes during the campaign. Those struggles resulted in a continuing cool relationship with Browns' fans, who booed him often during home contests. Part of Ryan's decline can also be traced to the absence of second-year wide receiver Paul Warfield, who missed much of the season after suffering a double fracture of the collarbone in the team's first exhibition game. Despite this, the Browns reached the1965 NFL Championship Game. Facing the Packers, he went 8-of-18 for 115 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in the 23–12 loss.[17]
In1966, he bounced back with a superb season, leading the league with 29 touchdown passes[1] and finishing second with 2,976 yards[18] despite playing with intense pain. Ryan's output helped alleviate the absence of the legendary Jim Brown, who had retired prior to the start of training camp. His 29 touchdown passes in 14 games ranks second in Browns franchise history toBrian Sipe, who got 30 in a 16-game 1980 season.[19]
On January 25, 1967, Ryan underwent an operation to repair the remaining effects of his injury. The surgery eliminated the pain, but also affected his throwing motion. In the1967 season opener, Ryan's injury woes continued as he sprained both ankles in a 21–14 loss to theDallas Cowboys. Battling through that malady, along with shoulder and knee troubles, Ryan led the team to a 9–5 record to reach theplayoffs. The season would see Ryan suffering a concussion from a head-to-head collision withDick Butkus. He was knocked out in the second quarter but came back to throw three touchdown passes in the third quarter to will his team to a 24–0 victory. Ryan later stated that it was this collision that necessitated the cervical disc replacement he underwent after retiring.
Ryan's tenure as the Browns' starting quarterback came to an abrupt end following a 1–2 start to the1968 season. Browns'head coachBlanton Collier replaced Ryan withBill Nelsen, who went on to lead the team to a division title. The official conclusion of Ryan's time with the Browns came on September 9, 1969, when he was released, but new Redskins' coachVince Lombardi quickly signed Ryan as a backup to future Hall of Fame quarterbackSonny Jurgenson.[1]
In 2005, the Browns named Ryan a Browns Legend.[3]
Despite throwing only one pass during the1969 season, Ryan returned for the last of his 13 years in the NFL in1970, playing for coachBill Austin after Lombardi's death from cancer in September 1970,[1] before officially announcing his retirement on April 13, 1971. With his accurate throwing arm, his 14.7 yards per completion still ranks as one of the all-time leaders.[19]
Ryan attended graduate school during the first part of his playing career, and in 1965, he earned his Ph.D. from Rice.[20] He worked for seven postgraduate years under G. R. MacLane, a leadinggeometric-function theorist, and produced the dissertation "Characterization of the Set ofAsymptotic Values of aFunction Holomorphic in theUnit Disc".[8] In 1966, Ryan published two fundamental papers on the set of asymptotic values of a function holomorphic in the unit disc in Duke Mathematical Journal.[21]
Ryan received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement in 1965.[22]
Ryan started teaching at Rice during his career and, during his time with the Browns, he became an assistant professor at theCase Institute of Technology in February 1967. Ryan had a full teaching load,[23] which includes undergraduate and graduate courses, and conducting research incomplex analysis.[24][25] While at training camp, Ryan taught math in the morning and went to football practice in the afternoon.[26] Ryan taught his last course at Case Western Reserve in the spring of 1971. He was promoted to associate professor that summer. After taking a leave of absence for the next three years, he resigned his faculty position in 1974.
Ryan learned computer programming and software through the Chi Corp., Case Western Reserve's then newly launched private computer company. He compiled advanced statistics to apply what he learned to football. The Browns were shown his results and liked the project but didn't offer the extra cash to move it forward.[8]
Ryan's second career was fodder for many jokes bysportswriters.Red Smith wrote that the Browns' offense consisted of a quarterback who understoodEinstein'stheory of relativity and ten teammates who didn't know there was one. Ryan was somewhat put off by the focus on his academic life, as he considered himself to be a regular football player.
Ryan considered SirEdward Collingwood, an expert inmeromorphic functions and the theory of cluster sets, andArthur J. Lohwater, the former editor ofMathematical Reviews, as mentors.[27] Ryan had anErdős number of 3.[28]
Soon after his retirement from the Redskins, Ryan remained in thenation's capital when he was named director of information services for theU.S. House of Representatives. While there, he helped advance the computer age in politics by playing an integral role in establishing the body's first electronic voting system. This enabled voting procedures that usually ran for 45 minutes to be shortened to around 15 minutes. By the time he left the post, the office had an annual budget of $8 million with a staff of 225.[29]
Ryan resigned that post to becomeathletic director and lecturer in mathematics atYale University on March 7, 1977. Ryan served in that position for ten years before resigning to become the school's associate vice president for institutional planning.
During the late 1970s a Yale employee informed Ryan that many thousands of nude photographs of young men in front, side and rear poses with metal pins sticking out from their spines had been discovered in a room inPayne Whitney Gymnasium. Ryan investigated, finding that they depicted decades of Yale freshmen whose posture had been documented as part of a questionable study on the long-term effects of posture. Ryan then quickly called in a document-disposal expert who shredded and then burned the photos.[30]
Ryan was a member of the Rice board of governors from 1972 to 1976 and was recognized as a distinguished alumnus in 1987. Ryan became vice president for external affairs at Rice in August 1990, increasing annual gifts to the university to a three-year average of $32.8 million for the fiscal years 1992–94 from $21.4 million for the fiscal years 1988–90. In 1995, he resigned his post as vice president for external affairs at Rice, owing to differences with President Malcolm Gillis concerning the future course of external affairs. Ryan ended his institutional career as a professor ofmathematics, and professor ofcomputational andapplied mathematics at Rice.[31] He was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973, and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus for mathematics and education.[3][6]
Ryan was president and chief executive officer of Contex Electronics, which designed and manufactured cable and interconnect products for the computer and communications industries. Ryan also served as director forAmerica West Airlines,Sequoia Voting Systems,[32] and of Danielson Holding Corporation. He was an advisory director of United Medical Care Inc.
In retirement, he ran a self-designed program that helps micro-analyze statistical behavior of the up-and-down pricing movement that underlies the pricing behavior of the futures market. He also worked onOppermann's conjecture about the distribution ofprime numbers.[8]
Ryan lived on 78 acres of heavily forested land[33] inGrafton, Vermont, with his wife, Joan, a retired sportswriter and nationally syndicated columnist forThe Washington Post.[8] His wife was one of the first female sportswriters to ever grace a locker room (not to be confused with another sportswriter named Joan Ryan),[34][35] was a sportswriter for theCleveland Plain Dealer,[1] and also wrote a book on six women in sports,Babe Didrikson Zaharias,Kathy Kusner,Wilma Rudolph,Billie Jean King,Peggy Fleming, andMelissa Belote.[36] The two Texans met in college, fell in love with Vermont while Ryan was on staff at Yale, and had been married since their senior year at Rice, getting married on March 1, 1958.[27][3]
Ryan died January 1, 2024, at a nursing home, inWaterford, Connecticut, from complications ofAlzheimer's disease. He was 87.[37] Ryan was buried in Sportsmans Road Cemetery inStamford, Vermont. Suspecting he may have hadchronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Ryan arranged to donate his brain to theBoston University CTE Center.[3] He was survived by Joan Marie (Busby) Ryan,[3] his wife of 65 years, and children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.[1]
Ryan ranks fourth all-time among Browns quarterbacks with 13,499 passing yards and second behindBrian Sipe with 134 touchdowns. His 81.43passer rating is fifth-best, behindMilt Plum,Baker Mayfield,Otto Graham, andBernie Kosar.
Ryan's career numbers (including years with the Rams and Redskins) were 1,090 completions in 2,133 attempts for 16,044 yards, 149 touchdowns and 111 interceptions. Ryan also rushed for 1,358 yards and six touchdowns on 310 carries.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theNFL championship | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1958 | LAR | 5 | 0 | – | 5 | 14 | 35.7 | 34 | 2.4 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 28.6 | 5 | 45 | 9.0 | 12 | 0 |
| 1959 | LAR | 10 | 3 | 0–3 | 42 | 89 | 47.2 | 709 | 8.0 | 67 | 2 | 4 | 63.4 | 19 | 57 | 3.0 | 13 | 1 |
| 1960 | LAR | 11 | 5 | 3–1–1 | 62 | 128 | 48.4 | 816 | 6.4 | 61 | 7 | 9 | 57.9 | 19 | 85 | 4.5 | 24 | 1 |
| 1961 | LAR | 14 | 3 | 2–1 | 72 | 142 | 50.7 | 1,115 | 7.9 | 96 | 5 | 7 | 68.3 | 38 | 139 | 3.7 | 28 | 0 |
| 1962 | CLE | 11 | 7 | 3–3–1 | 112 | 194 | 57.7 | 1,541 | 7.9 | 65 | 10 | 7 | 85.4 | 42 | 242 | 5.8 | 39 | 1 |
| 1963 | CLE | 13 | 13 | 10–3 | 135 | 256 | 52.7 | 2,026 | 7.9 | 83 | 25 | 13 | 90.4 | 62 | 224 | 3.6 | 25 | 2 |
| 1964 | CLE | 14 | 14 | 10–3–1 | 174 | 334 | 52.1 | 2,404 | 7.2 | 62 | 25 | 19 | 76.7 | 37 | 217 | 5.9 | 19 | 1 |
| 1965 | CLE | 12 | 12 | 10–2 | 119 | 243 | 49.0 | 1,751 | 7.2 | 80 | 18 | 13 | 75.3 | 19 | 72 | 3.8 | 18 | 0 |
| 1966 | CLE | 14 | 14 | 9–5 | 200 | 382 | 52.4 | 2,974 | 7.8 | 54 | 29 | 14 | 88.2 | 36 | 156 | 4.3 | 17 | 0 |
| 1967 | CLE | 13 | 13 | 9–4 | 136 | 280 | 48.6 | 2,026 | 7.2 | 49 | 20 | 16 | 72.7 | 22 | 57 | 2.6 | 12 | 0 |
| 1968 | CLE | 7 | 3 | 1–2 | 31 | 66 | 47.0 | 639 | 9.7 | 57 | 7 | 6 | 79.0 | 11 | 64 | 5.8 | 19 | 0 |
| 1969 | WAS | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 83.3 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1970 | WAS | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 4 | 25.0 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Career | 126 | 87 | 57–27–3 | 1,090 | 2,133 | 51.1 | 16,042 | 7.5 | 96 | 149 | 111 | 77.6 | 310 | 1,358 | 4.4 | 39 | 6 | |
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theNFL championship | |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1964 | CLE | 1 | 1 | 1–0 | 11 | 18 | 61.1 | 206 | 11.4 | 51 | 3 | 1 | 117.1 | 3 | 2 | 0.7 | 4 | 0 |
| 1965 | CLE | 1 | 1 | 0–1 | 8 | 18 | 44.4 | 115 | 6.4 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 44.7 | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 8 | 0 |
| 1967 | CLE | 1 | 1 | 0–1 | 14 | 30 | 46.7 | 194 | 6.5 | 75 | 2 | 1 | 76.2 | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| 1968 | CLE | 2 | 0 | – | 2 | 6 | 33.3 | 19 | 3.2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 43.1 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 5 | 3 | 1–2 | 35 | 72 | 48.6 | 534 | 7.4 | 75 | 6 | 4 | 78.1 | 10 | 25 | 2.5 | 8 | 0 | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| Academics | |
