Who Is Matt Ryan's Wife? All About Sarah Marshall

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and Sarah Marshall have been together since 2003.

The couple first met during their freshman year at Boston College, while they were both training for their respective sports, with Matt in football and Sarah in basketball. After graduating from college and Matt being drafted into the NFL, he and Sarah tied the knot on April 8, 2011.

In spring 2018, the couple welcomed their first children together, twin boys named Marshall Thomas and John (Johnny) Matthew. Sarah was put on bed rest for the final six weeks of her pregnancy before she welcomed the twins, and the newborns stayed in the NICU for over a month after their birth.

“It has been a long and challenging road, but it has all been worth it,” Sarah previously told PEOPLE of her pregnancy journey. “Matt and I couldn’t be happier to have them home."

In April 2023, their family grew after they welcomed their third child, Cal Patrick Ryan. The couple revealed in an Instagram post that they were trying to get pregnant for some time until they learned that they were expecting Cal in late 2022.

So, who is Matt Ryan’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Sarah Marshall and her relationship with the former NFL quarterback.

Sarah met Matt in college

Sarah and Matt met while attending Boston College together between 2003 to 2007. They met for the first time during their freshman year while they both were playing their respective sports.

"All the athletes there and all the teams worked out in the same building. So as cliche as it sounds, we first met in the weight room,” she revealed to The Gwinnett Daily Post.

"It started out as a friendship. We’d see each other in the hallways and we had the same group of friends and one thing led to another,” she recalled. "I look back and we dated forever and now we've been married for two years. I was the lucky one to run into him that day."

She appreciates Forgetting Sarah Marshall

In 2008, the rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall premiered, with the titular character sharing the same name as her. Leading up to its debut, marketing efforts included several billboards that read different insulting phrases such as “You suck Sarah Marshall” and “My mom hates you Sarah Marshall.”

“Every chance I got, I took a picture under a sign that said ‘You suck Sarah Marshall.' Even to this day when people find out my name was Sarah Marshall they think it’s cool,” Sarah told The Gwinnett Daily Post.

Her husband, meanwhile, doesn’t share the exact same sentiment. Matt said he would take photos of her underneath the billboards as a joke, and as for the film, he told the Dan Patrick Show that he “hates” it.

Sarah was a basketball player for Boston College

In high school, Sarah was the star basketball player and was named the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year twice, in addition to MVP twice. According to her Boston College Eagles bio, in her senior year, she averaged 20 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists. She was also her school’s all-time leading scorer.

When she attended Boston College, she was a starting player for the team for three years. She played the position of point guard on the team.

“I got everyone where they needed to be, set people up, a playmaker, assists. I tried to involve my teammates,” Sarah told The Gwinnett Daily Post. “I played basketball, soccer and ran track. I didn't run track my last two years. I ran long-distance in track, the mile and two-mile.”

In 2013, Sarah was hired by the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream as their sponsorship sales consultant.

“Sarah has played women’s basketball at an elite level. She has a true passion for the game and knowledge of everything that goes into it,” Ashley Preisinger, the then-CEO of the Dream, stated in a press release when she was hired. “She could do many different things at this stage in her life, and we are thrilled to have her as a part of our team.”

Their first date was untraditional

It wasn’t until Matt and Sarah’s sophomore year that their friendship turned romantic. After they continuously ran into one another while training and spending time together in the same friend groups, they decided to go on their first date. However, it wasn’t one-on-one.

Their first official date was going to see the movie Man on Fire with three of Sarah’s teammates. "I felt bad because it was Matt and all [of] these girls. But he was a good sport about it," she noted to The Gwinnett Daily Post. "Right then I knew I had a good one."

"The first couple of times we went out with others around campus,” she added. “That's the beauty of college, you get to know someone without the official first date thing."

According to the Indy Star, they became official boyfriend and girlfriend after a chance encounter with one of Matt’s teammates at a Blockbuster. While they were looking for a film to rent, the teammate asked if this was his girlfriend, to which he later said she was.

They went on to tie the knot on April 8, 2011, on the Georgia coast.

Sarah is a philanthropist

Sarah and Matt are both involved in several charities and Atlanta-based nonprofits. The Press Herald reported that they previously took time to volunteer at the local school, Dunbar Elementary, to promote National Voulnteer Week.

In 2014, the couple established an endowment to provide scholarships at McAuley High in Portland. Recipients are chosen based on their financial need and leadership skills.

Additionally, Sarah volunteers at the Brookhaven Boys & Girls Club at least three times a week when school is out of session. She and Ryan would greet their 40-plus students by name as they arrived.

"She’s not worried about any kind of recognition,” executive director Ziggy Asfaw told the outlet of Sarah. “She just does it because she loves the relationships she has built. She fits right in as if she was a staff member. I consider her a friend … She asks how your day is, how your family is — she wants to know what’s going on with you. She has a big heart."

She is a mother

On Jan. 9, 2018, Sarah was put on bed rest while she was pregnant with her first children, a set of twins. Six weeks later, the couple welcomed their twin boys, Marshall and John.

On April 8, 2018 the babies were finally able to come home after Marshall spent five weeks and John spent six weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit at Atlanta’s Northside Hospital.

On April 3, 2023, the couple welcomed their third child, a son named Cal Patrick Ryan. Sarah revealed in an Instagram post that Cal’s pregnancy was high risk after what happened with her twins.

“Cal Patrick Ryan, you are the definition of being worth the wait,” Sarah wrote via an Instagram post later that month announcing his birth. “You have two brothers who have been obsessed with you since the day they found out about you, and you are already making a strong case as Dad’s favorite by making sure your arrival didn’t disrupt his Masters weekend.”

Matt’s brother is married to Sarah’s sister

Love was in the air for the Marshall and Ryan families. Matt’s brother, Mike, married Sarah’s sister, Maggie in June 2010. The couple shares three children together.

Maggie described her relationship with Sarah to the Press Herald, as “very intertwined.” They met while tailgating at Matt’s college football games through Sarah and Matt.

“They’re a perfect complement for each other,” Maggie told the Press Herald of her sister’s relationship in 2017. “Matt is so lucky to be with Sarah because she gets it — the whole life of an athlete. She totally is right in sync with him.”

She supported her husband in his football career

Sarah has always been supportive of Matt’s football career. From tailgating with her sister during his college career to bringing their family and friends to all of his NFL games.

On Feb. 7, 2016, Sarah tweeted about what the NFL wives at the Super Bowl must be going through. “I can’t imagine the kind of sick to [your] stomach nerves that must be setting in for the wives, but I pray that one day I can relate!” she wrote at the time.

Just a year later, she was able to experience it, as Matt’s team at the time, the Atlanta Falcons, took on the New England Patriots and lost 34-28.

“Tweeted this on the day of the Super Bowl last year. The prayer was answered and the nerves are real!” she wrote in an Instagram post.

On March 21, 2022, she tweeted her excitement for her husband to be traded to the Indianapolis Colts through a GIF of their mascot hyping up the crowd.

Additionally, she thanked the Atlanta Falcons for his 15-season run with the team. "I’m not crying, you’re crying. Forever thankful for this team, fan base and city!” she wrote.

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