A week ago, when Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was suffering from warm-ups for his team’s last preseason game, an epic golf was unfolding on televisions inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Patrick Cantlay held on to Bryson DeChambeau in a six-hole playoff for the BMW Championship and, in doing so, took the nickname “Patty Ice”.
It’s a play on Ryan’s nickname from high school, “Matty Ice,” which has followed him from Penn Charter in Philadelphia to Boston College and then to Atlanta. And Atlanta, of course, is where Cantlay went on to earn his new nickname with a one-time victory in the Tour Championship on Sunday afternoon, holding on to Jon Rahm.
Which led Ryan, himself an avid golfer who has gone golf with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, in the past to suggest that Matty Ice and Patty Ice get together for a round this low season. .
“Congratulations Patrick Cantlay! We’re finishing the cold season,” Ryan wrote on Twitter. “I wish you the best of the Ryder Cup! How about a round at Shady this offseason?”
Congratulations @patrick_cantlay! Ice cream season finale. I wish you the best of the Ryder Cup! How about a round in Shady this offseason?
Good job @eastlakegc to organize another amazing touring championship. @PGATOUR https://t.co/c4kPX9Z918
– Matt Ryan (@ M_Ryan02) September 5, 2021
That was the last part of the Cantlay-Ryan-Atlanta Falcons love last week. Cantlay received a “PATTY ICE” Falcons T-shirt earlier this week, with Ryan’s No. 2, and the PGA Tour’s official Twitter account announced that “Patty Ice is here to stay.”
Cantlay has also approved the nickname.
“I made people tell me it was hard to get a nickname for me,” Cantlay told the Tour Championship this week. “This is the first thing that seems to have stayed a bit. Before, the only thing I got is PC. I like it. I think it’s great. I think it’s great when people know me a little bit and maybe that nickname it may have a bit of traction because it may sound true. “
The Falcons also accepted the nickname when they welcomed Cantlay to Atlanta on Twitter, which Cantlay retweeted.
Matty Ice returns for his 14th season as Atlanta’s starting quarterback next Sunday at home against the Philadelphia Eagles.