Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, 36, just hit a major milestone with 350 passing touchdowns in his impressive career, but he’s sharing why Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady, 44, is the inspirational one. “He’s unbelievably competitive,” Matt told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY while discussing his partnership with Tide on Oct. 5 as the NFL teams up with the detergent brand to #TurnToCold in an effort to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “He’s unbelievably disciplined. That part of it’s inspirational to all of us.”
The father to twins, Marshall and John, 3, thinks Tom’s dedication to the sport at his age is what sets him apart from any other player in the league. “You watch him at 44 playing great football,” Matt added. “And so you like to think that if you are committed in some of the same ways that he is you can do it for a long time and I think that creates inspiration for younger guys.”
Tom is known for his insanely strict diet, and while Matt also takes care of himself, he’s not as intense as his pal! “I haven’t quite gotten that extreme,” Matt said laughing. “I like to think that I take pretty good care of myself and eat pretty healthy, but I will have meat and bread once in awhile. I eat pretty clean, but I don’t think I’ve taken it to that extreme.”
Being a part of this unique and special club, Matt is still in awe of how all the guys in the league support each other. “It’s a unique fraternity of guys that are in that same position and they’re not many,” Matt revealed.
“It’s cool once in awhile, you pick up your phone after a game, you have a text message from Tom or just around the league. It could be anyone. You have a text message from those guys and it’s cool. I always try and to do the same. Especially when guys accomplish something, you let them know you respect what they’ve done and how they’ve gone about it.” Before the season got started, Matt wanted to help out the planet while meeting some of his own inspirations, Ice-T, 63, and wrestling star Stone Cold, 56, for a commercial with Tide. Known as “Matty Ice” by many both on and off the field, he felt his nickname helped him fit right in for the partnership with the brand. “It was awesome,” Matt said of filming while urging fans to save the planet by using cold water with the Tide Cold Washing Machine. “One of the highlights of my summer. I grew up watching Stone Cold and listening to Ice T and watching Ice T on Law & Order, so to meet those guys and spend the day with them and shoot the commercial was a ton of fun. I’ve had this Matty Ice nickname since I was 14 and it finally paid off because I got to meet those guys and work with those guys.”
