Ryan was released by the Browns after the 1968 season, then joined the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders), who had hired Lombardi as their coach and general manager. Ryan spent two seasons as Sonny Jurgensen’s backup, seeing action only briefly, the first year under Lombardi, and the second season for Coach Bill Austin after Lombardi’s death from cancer in September 1970.
Ryan retired with 16,042 career passing yards and a completion rate of 51.1 percent. He was voted to the Pro Bowl each season from 1964 to 1966. And he led the N.F.L. in touchdown passes in 1964, with 25, and in 1966, with 29.
In addition to his son Frank, he is survived by his wife of 65 years, Joan Ryan, a former sports columnist for The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Washington Post; three other sons, Michael, Stuart and Heberden; a sister, Patricia Ryan; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild, with another “on the way,” his son Frank said. A brother, Robert W. Ryan Jr., died before him.
Ryan had lived for many years in Grafton, Vt., before moving to the Connecticut health care facility.
Ryan donated his brain to the Boston University CTE Center, which studies chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disorder similar to Alzheimer’s caused by repeated head injuries and which has been linked to football and other contact sports. His family said in a statement that it suspected that CTE may have “played a role” in Ryan’s condition.
“There’s a lot of exploitation in football, a lot of misdirection in what are the real values of living, of doing,” Ryan told Peter Richmond for the website Sports on Earth in 2013, reflecting on his dual careers and the world of big-time college football. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t have football and all its glory, but the players should be focused on something more than running a 4.5 forty.”
Bernard Mokam contributed reporting.
