Matt Ryan is Modeling for Banana Republic, and No One Seems to Care

With all the trials and tribulations of the NFL offseason, it can be hard to follow the news. From Colin Kaepernick’s blackballing, to Aaron Rodgers’ breakup, to Tony Romo and Jay Cutler’s retirement, to Ezekiel Elliott’s legal troubles, to Lucky Whithead’s mistaken identity troubles, to Tom Brady’s Asian “listening tour,” to the piling mountain of evidence about NFL head trauma, and back to Jay Cutler’s un-retirement, it’s enough to make your head spin.

But there’s one story as compelling, as inconceivable as all of those others put together. And yet, like Evan Hansen falling in the forest, no one has seemed to notice. I’m talking about Matt Ryan recently doubling as a Banana Republic model.

By all accounts, Ryan is great guy, coming off a career MVP season only to be thwarted by the ungodly heroics of Brady and Belichick. But when I think Matt Ryan, fashion model is not exactly the first thing that comes to mind.

That’s a face I would love to grab a beer with and get advice about the best investments for my 401k, but I just never saw it selling me chinos.

Obviously the folks at Gap Inc., thought differently, and I must say, cleaned him up real nice.

Here’s Ryan alongside New York Yankee Didi Gregorious and Portland Trail Blazer C.J. McCollum sporting Banana Republic’s Rapid Movement chinos. Hmm…they look both sporty and professional all at once, I might need to get me some.

And of course no ad campaign would be complete without a totally casual video of the models hanging out in their new threads. With 979 views (at the time I saw it), this thing hasn’t exactly gone viral, but we can start the movement right here right now.

If I were Ryan’s agent, I would be advising him to take the Peyton Manning route and dress that mug up in funny commercials rather than exposing in the gradations of white and beige hues. But who knows? Maybe modeling was Ryan’s childhood dream, and after winning the MVP and coming oh-so-close to a championship, you can’t blame a guy for living it out.