The New England Patriots selected Eastern Regional High School graduate Logan Ryan in the third round of the 2013 draft in April, making him the second Eastern graduate to move on to the NFL.
The other, Chris Canty, a defensive back from Kansas State University, was a first-round draft pick for the 1997 Patriots.
During his time spent at Eastern, Ryan was the starting quarterback for his junior and senior year, taking home a total of 16 victories for the Vikings, according to head coach Dan Spittal.
Ryan threw for more than 2,500 yards and had 35 total touchdowns as a Viking. On the defensive side, Ryan had 43 tackles and five interceptions.
According to Spittal, the team made it to the semifinals during Ryan’s junior year and quarterfinals his senior year.
“He was a very effective two-way player for us. He stayed injury free, which is kind of hard to do,” he said.
Spittal said Ryan was a great leader and talented athlete. At 170 pounds, Spittal said Ryan worked hard his junior and senior year, managing to catch the eyes of a few major college scouts.
“Rutgers thought he was good enough to go there. That’s one of the reasons New England drafted him. They take the same type of kids,” Spittal said, adding there is a history of Rutgers football players being drafted to the Patriots because coach Bill Belichick and former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano had a good connection.
In the 2013 draft, New England selected three players from Rutgers: Ryan, Duron Harmon (safety) and Steve Beauharnais (linebacker).
Ryan said his time spent as quarterback for Eastern helped him adjust to the fast pace and pressure of college football. It also gave him a different perspective when it came time to step onto the field on defense as a cornerback.
“It took me a while to get adjusted to Rutgers,” he said, adding it was a great experience playing with a group of guys he grew up with on the football field.
“I accomplished a lot of the goals that I wanted to,” and playing at Rutgers “made me not only a better player, but a better man,” Ryan said.
During his time at Rutgers, Ryan, a three-time member of the Big East All-Academic Football team, had 170 tackles, 6.5 sacks, seven interceptions and four forced fumbles, according to Rutgers’ website.
In 2011, he was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week after a winning game against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, 34–10, where he made two interceptions. Ryan said he is still in the transition stage at the Patriots’ camp. A few days after the selection was announced, he was sent to Foxboro, Mass., for training. Ryan said he did not have much time for celebration, but he got back to work doing what he dreamed of when he was younger.
“I felt extremely grateful. I put a lot of hard work in to get to this point,” Ryan said. “I made a lot of people smile that day.”
