Before the accolades, before the 3,000-yard senior season and before he was the only quarterback in Cornell’s Class of 2029, Ryan Downes had to learn how to walk again.
Hailing from Sarasota, Florida, meet Ryan Downes ’29, one of five quarterbacks on the Red’s roster. His story features a season-ending injury, a strong comeback season and a love of all sports.
Developing the Love of the Game
Downes was born on Long Island and lived there until he was about 12 years old. Downes said his start with football originated in New York so attending Cornell is a “full circle” moment for him. He grew up a New York Jets fan and enjoyed watching college football on Saturdays with his family and catching professional NFL games on Sundays — where he enjoyed watching quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Harvard graduate Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“I grew up with sports,” Downes said. “I had a football in my hand all the time and I loved watching and looking up to the pros.”
He started playing flag football as soon as he was old enough to join a team according to Downes. Then, in the fourth grade, he started playing tackle football. By the time he started middle school, Downes joined International Management Group Academy where he played quarterback through the end of his sophomore year of high school.
Downes played his junior year at Venice High School where he faced the biggest challenge of his football career. On a two point conversion play against IMG Academy, he was hit hard and faced a “combined tib[ia]-fib[ula] open compound fracture” which left him in the hospital for roughly three months.
According to Downes, he underwent seven different surgeries including a double leg fasciotomy which “saved” his legs. Through it all, Downes said he knew he still wanted to play football at the collegiate level.
“I still knew from the second that it happened that I wanted to come back and play,” Downes said.
Downes fulfilled the promise he made for himself and transferred to Booker High School to wrap up his final year of high school. In his comeback season, Downes recorded a stellar 3,082 yards and 35 touchdowns in 13 games. He had a .701 completion percentage and just three interceptions. Downes explained that following the injury, he “rebranded the way” he played football.
Downes ’29 had a stellar senior season.(Mike Lang / Sarasota Herald-Tribune).
“Before the injury I liked to be a mobile quarterback and running the ball to pick up a gritty first down but now I have to think a little more about protecting myself and being smart to not take those extra hits,” Downes said.
Downes credits the success of the season to the rest of the team and said that as the season continued he “healed” and got back to his rhythm.
“I was surrounded by an incredible support cast that helped me get those stats,” Downes said. “I can attest the stats to the incredible offensive line play, my receivers and running backs and the incredible offensive attack we had that year.”
Downes’ performance earned him the 2024 Sports Illustrated Comeback Player of the Year and the Herald Tribune Courage Award which Downes said he was “honored” to have received.
“Through a lot of doubt, pain and hours of recovery I still managed to come back and prove to people that I could play,” Downes said. “I still have a lot to prove and the story definitely is not over.”
Committing to Cornell
During his high school football career, Downes caught the attention of many college scouts including Indiana University and the University of Kansas. Despite his various offers, Downes said he most relished the opportunity to play football at Cornell. According to Downes, the Ivy League and Cornell in particular was “the best mix of academics and sports in the whole country” which always appealed to him “as someone who always sought out the highest of both academics and athletics.”
But the biggest differentiator between Cornell and the other Ivy schools he had offers from was head coach Dan Swanstrom. Downes said he felt that he and Swanstrom “saw eye-to-eye.”
“From the first day that I had met him I knew he was someone who I really wanted to play for,” Downes said. “I was impressed by his knowledge of the game and the way he galvanizes the people that play for him.”
Now, the 6’4″ quarterback Downes joins the Reds’ squad, expressing his enthusiasm about the opportunity and to contribute to the team.
“I’d like to come in there with my whole freshman class and make our mark on the team,” Downes said. “We all share the common goal of wanting to win games and climb up the Ivy League standings so whatever my role is I am super excited to play it to compete.”
Downes also had a connection to the Red’s former quarterback Jameson Wang ’25 and said the two shared the same quarterback coach in California. Downes said he is “inspired” by Wang and other Ivy League football players’ abilities to continue their professional careers.
“It was fun to watch someone like Jameson and his leadership and style of play is definitely something I want to emulate and be like,” Downes said. “The Ivy League is a place of competitive football for example Blake Stenstrom was a Princeton a few years ago and he’s one that is also bouncing around the league.”
Wang ’25 told The Sun that he was impressed with Downes abilities and is excited for him to make “a big jump” from the high school to collegiate level.
“I met Ryan when I was training with our quarterback coach last summer [and he] definitely passes the eye test as he has a striking appearance,” Wang said. “I think Ryan is going to learn the game of football from a different perspective working with Coach Swan[strom] … and it’s up to Ryan to study and prepare like a college quarterback.”
Downes said his short term goal is to earn an Ivy League Championship title and qualify for the NCAA’s Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. He hopes in the long run to be involved in sports for as long as possible.
“Football and sports in general are such amazing gifts to play while you have the chance to,” Downes said. “Once that’s gone and especially for me once I almost had that taken away from me I realized how important football was to me so I want to be a part of that for as long as possible whether that is coaching, a [general manager] job or being a sports agent.
Downes also expressed his interest in all Cornell sports — specifically lacrosse — which he played until his sophomore year of high school. He is excited to root for the Red’s lacrosse team which just came off its historic NCAA season.
“I had a football in my hand first but I loved playing lacrosse and the northeast has the best lacrosse by far,” Downes said.
Beyond lacrosse, Downes said being involved in Cornell’s athletic program is a dream for him and he is excited to both be a member of the team and support other sports.
“I am excited to support all the different amazing sports Cornell has to offer from men’s ice hockey to lacrosse and everything in between,” Downes said. “I can’t wait to be involved in Cornell sports too.”
Zeinab Faraj
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
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