If you haven't noticed, Joey Logano, Matt Ryan, David Price, and Ricky Rubio are all nominees for The Mag's 2009 NEXT Athlete. We've done a pretty extensive job introducing them to you over the course of this week, but here's one more thing to sway your vote (starting Nov. 10!): Movie Posters. Yep, the pop culture circle is complete.

THE NEXT MOVIE POSTER GALLERY

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"Yea, I rock out to The Hold Steady."

We do a piece every Tuesday called The Sporting Equivalency. Click that link to find out more, but basically, we take a celebrity and equate them to athletes in four different sports. (Pop culture = speaks to our soul.) For NEXT 2009, we're using the same concept, but switching it up a bit: we'll take a NEXT athlete and equate him to someone in TV, someone in movies and someone in music. Here we go with Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan, a product of Philly. Should that be a clue? Keep reading.

Matt Ryan's Movies Equivalent: Will Smith

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Matt Ryan's TV Equivalent: Joshua Jackson

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Matt Ryan's Music Equivalent: The Hold Steady

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It's time to declare this year's NEXT athlete, and we've whittled down our list of finalists to Ricky Rubio, Joey Logano, David Price and Matt Ryan. Can you sum up any of them in just six words? Here's an example to get you started:

The best thing since sliced bread. (Joey Logano)

We'll be rewarding the best submissions for each of our finalists next Monday, Nov. 10, so get your entry in today!

SIX-WORD STORY CONTEST: NEXT

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Popeye's: When ya gotta have it, ya gotta have it. Matty Ice knows.

Matt Ryan says that when he landed his first huge NFL contract, he purchased himself "a big bed." Nice. In our never-ending quest to give you pithy facts on athletes, here now is a set of "Fun Facts" on Mr. Ryan. If you've never heard of this "Fun Facts" concept before, we suggest going here. OK, now you're ready.

You can always visit Matt Ryan's entire NEXT candidate page here.

1. Ryan went to William Penn Charter School in Philly. Know who else went there? Current Phillies president David Montgomery, as well as GM Ruben Amaro Jr. Talk about local talent, eh? Sidebar: Browning Nagle (ha!) also went there.

2. The two quarterbacks who got injured at Boston College allowing Ryan to move up the depth chart were Quinton Porter (currently with the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the CFL) and Paul Peterson, who is working on the staff at Southern Utah University.

3. The dude holds the record for completions in a BC game, connecting with his receivers 40 times in the 2006 battle with Wake Forest.

4. Ryan's initial pro contract made him the fourth-highest paid player in the NFL despite never having taken a pro snap. Cue the peanut gallery!

5. The last QB before Ryan to throw a TD on their very first career pass attempt was Michael Bishop, the former Kansas State standout, who did it for the Patriots in 2000. Wonder where Bishop is now? He appears to be playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

6. When asked by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution what he "splurges" on, Ryan responded: "Popeye's."

7. His current favorite "it" TV show is FOX's Fringe.

8. Story from his youth: "One time for Christmas I got Raiders pants and a Bo Jackson jersey and some shoulder pads and stuff like that. And my brother got Mark Rypien stuff from the Washington Redskins. We put on our things and went out back and it was really one of the only good tackles I ever had in my life. But I hit my brother. My parents had an irrigation thing in the backyard right before a bed of plants. He hit his shoulder into it—the hit didn't really do it, the fall popped his shoulder out. And so he separated his shoulder in the backyard. That was really the only time I ever caused an injury with a hit."

9. On the origin of his "Matty Ice" nickname, via his HS baseball coach: "Matt started his first varsity baseball game as a freshman, at third base against Malvern Prep. We were playing against his older brother, Motts. Matt had two hits, no errors, and we won. That's how he got the nickname Matty Ice."

10. His HS football coach on his skills: "Matt's senior year, we were undefeated and playing Malvern Prep for the league title. It was third and seven on Malvern's 45 at the end of the game. I called a pass play, but Matt checked to a fullback dive, which went for 15 yards. We used up more clock, stopped Malvern and won. When he came off the field, I said, 'Matt, I can't believe you made that call.' He said, 'Coach, it was there. I took advantage.' That's why I'm the coach and he was the QB."

Courtesy of the Ryan family

Matt Ryan in the second grade.

As part of Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan's nomination for NEXT 2009 (see his entire NEXT candidate page here), we present a photo gallery of his life. The gallery was greatly aided by Magazine writer Alyssa Roenigk, who wrote this story on Ryan in the May 19, 2008 issue. It's a compelling look back through the phenom's life, so check it out—and the gallery too!

MATT RYAN: FROM HERE TO THERE (AN ARTICLE)
MATT RYAN PHOTO GALLERY
MATT RYAN'S ENTIRE NEXT CANDIDATE PAGE

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They call him "Matty Ice."

[Unfamiliar with 'Clip Reel?' You can click here for more information.]

Last September, we were living up in Connecticut (the ESPN mothership) and one of our roommates, a Wake Forest alum, went up to Boston for the weekend to check out Wake vs. BC. He comes back Sunday, walks into the backyard where we're grilling and the first thing he says is: "Matt Ryan is really, really good." Indeed. Citizens of Atlanta are saying that presently, as a Falcons team that was supposed to be recovering from about twelve different subplots is currently contending in the NFC South. They call Ryan "Matty Ice" and frankly, we can't argue. We'll spare you the "anti-Vick" storyline, but we will present a brief history of the Falcons' future via Clip Reel.

Here's his Wiki.
Pro Football Reference.
NFL.Com page, with videos.
Interview on the Falcons "Media Lounge" portion of their website.
Falcons blog from last spring: "Why the Falcons should NOT draft Matt Ryan."
Behind the scenes of his first press conference in Atlanta.
Good Bleacher Report article.
Remember that insane drive he led against Virginia Tech?
Here are some clips of him against Clemson.
"Meet Matt Ryan" video.
Matt Ryan vs. Miami last year.
Shredding apart Bowling Green.
He threw for over 300 yards and 3 TD against Maryland.
Here he is versus ND.
This is a mixed bag of Ryan clips.
Ooh, an eight-minute clip on Ryan's skills. Nice.
Nice Part II: Stack TV films Ryan discussing his college recruitment process.
Making the case for Ryan as ROY.
Here's his Topps football card rookie shoot.
Ryan's first NFL pass was a friggin' touchdown.
Here's a breakdown of said pass by the NFL Films guys.
Ryan discusses his training routine.
Here, he gives advice to HS athletes.
We gotta show it: Ryan throwing up on the sidelines at BC.
Seems a relevant place to end: the Atlanta Journal Constitution's search field on Matt Ryan. They'd know him pretty well.

You can access Matt Ryan's NEXT candidate page right here.

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Rough hair day, sure, but Matt Ryan ain't sweating it.

[Ed's note: Below is the official nomination of Ryan, written by Dave Choate of The Falcoholic blog.]

If any idiot is going to tell you how great 23 year-old Matt Ryan could be, it might as well be the idiot who initially thought he was going to be a bust.

I was one of those fans who scoffed at the idea of drafting Ryan and swore profusely when the Falcons actually did it. The knocks on his decision-making and arm strength made me wary, and the Atlanta Falcons don't have a history of Hall of Fame quarterbacks falling into their laps.

Yet today I'm devouring a heaping plate of crow. The fact that I have put my faith so completely in his ability after only half a season should give you an idea of just how talented the kid really is. The very first pass of his career was a 62-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Michael Jenkins, and he's grown by leaps and bounds since.

Ryan has kept his poise against tough defenses and made throws that I never would've suspected he could make. Thanks to aggressive promotion from management and a startling start, he's putting his stamp on the franchise.

If ("when" seems to be accurate, but I'll remain cautious) Ryan blossoms into a great starting quarterback, he could carry a listless fanbase with him. We Atlanta fans have never seen back-to-back winning seasons from our beloved Falcons, and the direction of this team is finally, blissfully giving us something to get excited about.

It's especially important that Matt Ryan succeed now following the poisonous atmosphere caused by the imprisonent of Michael Vick and the flight-by-night of former coach Bobby Petrino. There still are fans who value Vick over the team, but they're fading into the background as the Falcons become relevant once more.

I can't call his career this early on, but it seems to me there's a very good chance that Ryan will be a very good quarterback for a long time. If that happens, he could deliver the first sustained success we Falcons fans have ever seen.

Even an idiot like me can appreciate that.

And that's why Matt Ryan should be NEXT.

You can access Matt Ryan's NEXT candidate page right here.

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ESPN The Magazine's 2009 NEXT campaign has begun. Unsure of what NEXT is? It's a ten-year concept for The Mag, in which editors and writers work to identify the athletes (and concepts) about to break out. The very first cover of ESPN The Magazine ever was this right here: a NEXT issue spotlighting Kobe Bryant, Eric Lindros, Alex Rodriguez and Kordell Stewart circa winter 1998 (hey, three out of four ain't bad!) Since then, we've selected such icons as LeBron James and Brian Urlacher as NEXT.

The four athletes this year are: Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan, Tampa Bay Rays P David Price, racer Joey Logano, and international hoops savant Ricky Rubio. You—yes, you—will determine, via voting, who gets selected as NEXT athlete.

There's a bunch of stuff for you to poke around through: the overall NEXT homepage can be found here (that'll give ya everything!). The pages for the individual athletes are here:

RICKY RUBIO
JOEY LOGANO
DAVID PRICE
MATT RYAN

On those pages you can find targeted content on the athletes themselves. Voting will run from November 10th to November 17th. Can you figure out who's the next KB24 in here? Start investigating.