The Falcons Have Wisely Decided Not to Make Matt Ryan the Face of the Franchise

This is probably a good idea: after the whole Michael Vick fiasco, the Atlanta Falcons have decided not to feature Matt Ryan as the "face of the franchise."

There were some segments of the internets that considered the Ryan selection a publicity stunt, but, well, that's just silly; the recently deposed face of the franchise is currently incarcerated for first-degree (puppy) murder, and Joey Harrington and Chris Redman aren't exactly guys you can build a team around. That the Ravens were trying to trade up and grab Ryan further suggests that NFL teams in the market for a quarterback considered him worth a top-5 pick (and everybody knows that Baltimore has a keen eye for identifying quarterback talent).

In any case, the Falcons front office will have a new marketing strategy for 2008:

Newly drafted quarterback Matt Ryan will not be a prime player in an advertising campaign planned by the Atlanta Falcons to try to rebuild the team's sagging season-ticket base. ...

"I don't think we're going to sit there and try to harp on one player," said Falcons president Rich McKay, who oversees the team's business operations. "It doesn't mean [Ryan] won't have some appearances or that you won't see him in the community, but I don't think he'll be the focus of our campaign."

For some idea of how bad things were last season, the Falcons saw a steep decline in season-ticket renewals, even though they cut prices. Four wins and myriad off-the-field nuttiness has that effect, Personally, I'm hoping the team builds a marketing strategy around Sam Baker. That guy looks like he can move some season tickets.