he was drafted by the angels right out of high school but turned it down so he could play both football and baseball for brigham young university. at byu, he was a 3rd string quarterback who ended up getting his chance to play after the starter and 2nd string were injuries early on in the season. after he suffered a devastating acl injury in the last game of the regular season, ryan focused solely on baseball. after his sophomore year, he was drafted by the anaheim angels once again. ryan played in the minor leagues until his first major league game on june 8, 1996.