Jon Ryan

Jonathan Robert Ryan (born November 26, 1981) is a Canadian former professional football punter.

He played university football for the University of Regina Rams, and began his professional career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) after being selected in the CFL Draft.

He also played for the Green Bay Packers and was a member of the Seattle Seahawks for ten seasons.

Ryan was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan.

On Halloween when he was 8 years old, he dressed up as a punter.

He attended Sheldon-Williams Collegiate for high school, where he played as running back, placekicker and punter on the school's football team.

Before this, the Packers went 929 punts without a blocked punt, dating back to September 11, 1995.

The punt tied for the second longest in franchise history - set by Sean Landeta September 20, 1998, at Cincinnati.

Ryan was a member of the Sheldon-Williams team that defeated the Evan Hardy Souls 41–7 to capture the 1999 Saskatchewan High School provincial championship.

Ryan and Evan Hardy running back Jeff Piercy would both go on to play in the CFL in the years following that game.

He then attended the University of Regina, where he played both punter and wide receiver for the Regina Rams football team from 2000 to 2003.

During his second season with the Rams, he caught a 109-yard touchdown pass, and led the team in receiving, in addition to his kicking duties.

After his fourth year with the Rams, Ryan picked up several team awards, including Best Special Teams Player, Top Scorer and Most Valuable Player.

He was also named a first-team Canada West All-Star, and a CIS All-Star.

Ryan also ran track for the University of Regina.

In 2004, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) selected Ryan as a punter and wide receiver in the third round of Canadian College Draft, making him the 24th overall pick.

Ryan joined the Blue Bombers for the 2004 CFL Season.

During his rookie season, Ryan finished second in punting average to Noel Prefontaine of the Toronto Argonauts.

During the 2005 season, Ryan led the league with a 50.6 yard average, while punting the most out of all league punters, 118 times.

NFL talk buzzed around Ryan's future, while midway through the year, there was also speculation that Ryan may take over the kicking duties as well from aging veteran Troy Westwood.

On February 7, 2006, Ryan signed with the Green Bay Packers to a three-year $965,000 contract.

He was only the third Saskatchewan native to make it to the NFL, following Arnie Weinmeister and Rueben Mayes.

During training camp in 2006 he found out his father, Bob, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and he persevered through a tough season, which included punting in a game two days after his father's death.

His teammates voted him as the recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award in 2006 for his display of courage and sportsmanship, and for being an inspiration in the locker room.

On September 10, he made his NFL debut against the Chicago Bears.

In the 26–0 loss, he finished with six punts for 270 net yards for a 45.00 average.

Overall, in the 2006 season, he finished with 84 punts for 3,739 net yards for a 44.51 average.

On September 30, 2007, against the Minnesota Vikings he became the first Packers punter to rush for a first down since David Beverly did so against the Houston Oilers on December 14, 1980.

His rush attempt that resulted in a gain of 7 yards came on a fake punt that was originally intended to be a pass, however, he did not hear the coaches call it off at the last minute.

He ran with the ball when he realized he had no one to throw to and ran into several of his blockers in the process because they did not know he was running with the ball.

On December 23, 2007, Ryan had two of his punts blocked by the Chicago Bears, including one that was returned for a touchdown.

He also had a nine-yard punt during the game and bobbled a snap on another that lead to a turnover on downs.

On December 30, 2007, during a 34–13 victory over the Detroit Lions, Ryan kicked a 72-yard punt in the fourth quarter, the longest punt at Lambeau Field since Don Chandler's 90 yard punt in 1965.

During the 2007 season, Ryan posted a net average of 37.6 yards, 12th in the NFL and the finest in Green Bay since 1969.

His gross mark of 44.4 was the fourth-best in club history.

Ryan was released by the Packers on September 1, 2008.

Following Week 1 of the 2008 regular season, Ryan signed with the Seattle Seahawks on September 9 to a two-year $980,000 contract.

In Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers, he hit a 63 yd punt, a 60 yd punt and a 55 yd punt.

He finished the 2008 season with 78 punts averaging 45.6 yards.

In his Week 6 game of the 2009 NFL season, he threw a 42-yard pass against the Arizona Cardinals to garner a 118.7 QB rating for the season.