Social distance update: Sarah Ryan's Twitter and Hayden Hurst
Matt Ryan is a fairly private man whose job puts him in a spotlight.
He's not the most active star in the NFL on social media. Majority of his tweets in the past two years have been advertisements.
Every now and again, though, Falcons fans are treated to a glimpse of Ryan's personal life through his wife, Sarah Ryan's, Twitter feed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic where every citizen is urged to practice social distancing, Ryan has gotten the opportunity to show off two more of his talents in the last couple of weeks.
First, his impressive jumper and heartwarming tribute to the late Hall of Famer Kober Bryant.
Then, his ability to catch food without using hands.
While Sarah Ryan admitted it was tough to take care of her two young children in a time where they're advised to distance themselves from the rest of society, the "ice cubes" have learned some new words.
From the longest-tenured Falcon to the one of the newest Falcons, Hayden Hurst shared some of his darkest moments in a transparent Player's Tribune piece. Hurst wrote he wanted to share as many graphic as possible so readers who have gone through similiar situations understand it's possible to survive and succeed afterward.
Hurst was a highly-touted baseball prospect coming out of high school. College wasn't a true option in his mind at the time because he wanted to get paid for what he loved as soon as he could. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, an organization that signed him to a $400,000 bonus.
While in the rookie leagues, Hurst struggled mightly. He eventually turned to drinking to run from the thoughts of his on-field failures on a nightly basis. Hurst's alcoholism got to the point where he drank solely for the purpose of blacking out every night. He had a trainer who would wake him up and take him to the field to throw each morning. Hurst worked extremely hard but the results still didn't show on the field. After one bad appearance, Hurst got emotional walking off the hill because he knew his chance at making the show were over.
He was then asked what else he was good at, and he responded he played football in high school. Through connections, he was given a workout with the University of South Carolina and was offered a preferred walk-on spot. At South Carolina, Hurst solidified himself before being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. The full story can be read here.
For commentary on both of these topics, please watch the video above.
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