The Conquering Hero Returns Home

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. I love how he's used different years to reinvent himself and his lyrics always have deep meaning and insight into the type of person he was at the time - and the time of person he wanted to be. Each song is a great timepiece and there's always something that can come back to the way we thought at one time or are thinking in the present.

His song Glory Days is a testament to that exact way of thinking. His career in full swing, Springsteen talks about the days of past and how they're reflected in the present day. In the first verse, he talks about an old baseball teammate who was ultra talented. They saw each other in passing, sat down, had a few drinks with one another and talked about the old days. Even though the two men grew older and drifted to do their own thing, they could sit down, relive some moments and rejuvenate their soul "talkin' bout the old times."

Matt Ryan is an Atlanta Falcon. Now a nine-year NFL veteran, he's an accomplished pro, helping redeem the franchise after what happened with the fallout from Michael Vick. An NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and three-time Pro Bowler, he's one of the front runners for this season's league MVP. He's blossomed into a football icon with over 30,000 passing yards and nearly 250 touchdowns.

In many ways, though, Ryan still belongs to The Heights. While he writes new chapters with the Falcons, BC fans still can relive the moments from the unforgettable 2007 season. Led by a prolific quarterback, the Eagles won 11 games. Ryan threw for 4,500 yards and 31 touchdowns as the BC won the Atlantic Division and finished the season ranked in the top 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 after beating Michigan State, 24-21, in the Champs Sports Bowl.

The Eagles scored 30 points or more in nearly half fo their games, winning their first eight games to rank second in the polls. On a Thursday night against eighth-ranked Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Ryan led a comeback for the ages, taking BC from down 10-0 late in the fourth to a 14-10 victory. It was a seminal moment for the Eagles, who ascended to the top of the Boston sports media scene even over Game Two of the 2007 World Series between the Red Sox and Colorado.

"It was a lot of fun to be a part of that team," Ryan said last week. "We had some great players, great wins, and the vibe in the locker room is what you would expect - it was tight. We were a tight-knit group of guys. My fifth-year senior class had about 17 guys, which was the largest fifth-year class, so we had guys that been around each other for a while. (We) saw it come to life, and it was awesome. Some of my best football memories are from that season and that team and it was fun to be a part of that."

Coming back home means we all get to relive those moments. We can watch highlights and retell the stories but they have a way of becoming repetitive. Having a hero from those moments - the biggest icon of the most memorable year - makes everything real again.

It was a simpler time in college football's transitionary period. Having outgrown its localized roots into a more national platform, the landscape changed during Ryan's time at BC. The Eagles moved from the Big East to the ACC. More television stations enabled more teams to be exposed nationally but internet streaming was still in its infancy. There were more bowl games but the numbers hadn't fully swelled yet. Players were heroes but they could retain their anonymity.

"Some of my favorite memories have nothing to do with football," Ryan said. "There are a lot of good times that I had here with teammates and friends. I met my wife here."

Progress pushes those memories and times more to the background. Making the future bright comes at the expense of lighting the past, and as construction is built to solidify the coming years, it's done by tearing down the memories that were built in the past.

"When I come back, it's great to see all of the progress this place has made," Ryan said. "One of the buildings I lived in does not exist anymore. Edmonds is down. It looks like some of the other ones I lived in are going to be down pretty soon too. But the construction here has been amazing. It has been cool to see how much this place has developed since I went here less than 10 years ago."

On Saturday, Boston College fans got to welcome Matt Ryan back. After watching him grow over five years in Chestnut Hill, he's gone onto bigger things. He's become an NFL icon. He's grown and we're all proud of that. But he came home and remembered where he came from. Like a Springsteen song, that has a way of rejuvenating the soul from what was and how we all got to where we are today.

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