Chad Michael Ryland (born October 15, 1999) is an American football

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

of the National Football League (NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Eastern Michigan and Maryland.

Early years

Ryland was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He attended

Cedar Crest High School Cedar Crest High School is a public high school located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The school serves over 2000 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Cornwall-Lebanon School District. General information Cedar Crest High School was founded in 1966. The ...

but initially only played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and baseball. He was convinced to tryout for the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team as a junior by his father. He made the team and in both years was named an all-league and all-county selection at

. To train, he and his father often snuck onto the school's athletic field after it was closed, and when they sometimes were told to leave, they briefly left, but then returned and Ryland continued practicing. He was ranked a five-star kicker and the 24th-best nationally at the position by Kohl's kicking camps.

College career

Ryland was a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

at Eastern Michigan, and won the starting job as a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

. In his second game, he made the most memorable kick of his career: a game-winning 24-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

as time expired to upset heavy favorite

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

20–19. Although he had a good performance to start the year, his play declined over the course of the season, and he finished having made only 12-of-20 field goal attempts, although Ryland did successfully convert all 41 PATs. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

at Eastern Michigan in 2019, Ryland appeared in all 13 games and made 35 PATs, additionally making 14-of-19 field goal trys. Against Illinois, he converted a 24-yard game-winning field goal attempt in the final seconds. He was a second-team all-conference choice after the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, in which he ranked top-20 nationally with a field goal percentage of 84.6, converting 11-of-13 attempts. The following year, Ryland set a team record with 104 points in a season after making 19-of-22 field goals and all 47 of his attempted PATs. Ryland transferred to Maryland in 2022, finishing his stint at Eastern Michigan as their all-time leading scorer with 309 points. In his only season at Maryland, he appeared in every game and was named second-team all-conference after converting 19-of-23 field goal attempts, including being 3-for-6 on attempts of over 50 yards.

Professional career

New England Patriots

2023

Ryland was drafted by the

in the fourth round (112th overall) of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

. In Week 16 on Christmas Eve night, although having missed an earlier field goal attempt and a point after attempt against the Denver Broncos, Ryland made a 56 yard field goal with two seconds on the clock for a 26-23 win. In total, Ryland made 16 of 25 field goal attempts (64%) and 24 of 25 extra point attempts (96%) in the

2023 NFL season The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States and the highest Professional gridiron football, professional level of American football in the world. It was formed in 1920 as the ''American Profes ...

; his field goal percentage was the lowest in the league among qualified kickers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryland, Chad Living people American football placekickers Sportspeople from Lebanon, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Eastern Michigan Eagles football players Maryland Terrapins football players New England Patriots players 1999 births