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Matt Ryan was always team-first, Penn Charter mates say

Matt Ryan was the best high school quarterback in Philadelphia in 2002. A scholarship waited at Boston College, and his size and ability would later make him one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks.

But with the Inter-Ac football championship on the line in the final game of the 2002 season, Penn Charter's coaches asked Ryan to hand the ball off.

Ryan was the compliant leader of a triple-option offense, which meant he attempted only 11 passes and totaled only 34 passing yards in a win over Germantown Academy to finish his high school career. He threw for 1,048 yards as a senior.