From Regina to Super Bowl glory, family helps Jon Ryan achieve dreams

While Jon Ryan’s football journey has seen him punt for teams based in Winnipeg, Green Bay and Seattle, his home and heart has always been in Regina.

The 37-year-old Queen City-born punter is enjoying his first season with his hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders, back in the city where he first fell in love with sports.

He still attributes his success in life to his parents, Bob and Barb Ryan.

“We had a really close-knit family and my parents always had our back on everything. With four kids all involved with extra-curricular activities, they were just on the run non-stop,” Jon said earlier this week.

“They would pick us up after school, one in one car and a couple in another, whether it be dance class for my sisters or football or hockey for me and my brother. They’re the biggest reason why I’m here and I’m very grateful to have parents like them.”

When it came to sports, Ryan’s father Bob was always his biggest supporter.

“He never pushed me into anything. Whatever I picked, he just supported. If I would’ve been a tap dancer, he probably would’ve ended up being a teacher or something,” Jon said.

Bob was one of Jon’s biggest fans as he found success on the football field. Bob died after being diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016, but a month before he passed away, he got to see Jon punt for the Green Bay Packers — Bob’s favourite NFL team.

“He got to see the first half of that so I was pretty fortunate and pretty happy that he got to see me just play one game,” Jon said. “He’s dearly missed 13 years later but I definitely wish he could’ve seen the second half of the dream.”

Ryan has many fond memories of himself, his dad and the rest of his family at their home in north Regina.

One of those memories is Nov. 26, 1989. Not only was that the day Rider Nation got to celebrate its second Grey Cup victory, it was also the day Jon celebrated his eighth birthday.

“When you’re that age, the birthdays are always special but as a die-hard Roughriders fan, it was an even more special birthday than normal for me. I can’t believe it’s 30 years ago but I remember that game very fondly,” Ryan said.

“I remember watching it at home with family and remember the Riders getting down big right off the bat and that comeback. That kick by (Dave) Ridgway is what we all really remember (in Saskatchewan). It was a really cool game.”

The Roughriders and football have always held a special place in Ryan’s heart, but it wasn’t the only sport he played while growing up.

“It was sports all the time, whether it be hockey, lacrosse, baseball — pretty much one sport right after the other,” Ryan said. “Basically when it was cold we played hockey after school and when it was warm we played football.”

Lacrosse was Ryan’s favourite sport as a child, and he even got opportunities to play it competitively in university. But football eventually won out. Ryan played his high school ball with the Sheldon-Williams Spartans and stayed in Regina to play with the University of Regina Rams.

During his time learning the game, he eventually fell in love with punting because it was the only thing he could really do by himself on Regina’s soccer fields.

“We would play football after school for hours and then eventually kids would get bored or have to go in for dinner. My brother and I would play catch but he would get bored and then literally I was just left alone with a football,” Ryan said.

“The only thing you can do when you’re alone with a football is start kicking it. I just developed a love and an obsession with kicking the football.”

His college career put him on the radar of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who selected him in the third round (24th overall) of the 2004 CFL draft.

Despite being a Roughriders fan, he was still glad to don the blue and gold.

“When you’re 22 and you’re just hungry to play football, you’ll play with whoever will take you,” Ryan said. “At the time, Winnipeg was wanting and willing to take me and I was just very grateful for that opportunity.”

He became one of the CFL’s premier punters, setting a single-season record with a 50.6-yard average in 2005.

“When you’re younger, you don’t care as much. Now that I get older, it means more to me now than it did back then. It’s something that’s pretty special and it has held up for 14 years,” Ryan said.

But after two years in the CFL, Ryan had dreams of making it to the NFL. He decided to head to Arizona to try and see if he could find his way onto a roster.

“There’s not many places to punt in Saskatchewan in December and January, so I just packed up my car, moved down there and paid $27 a night to live in a Studio 6 motel and it worked out for me,” Ryan said.

“(It was) just a guy and all his belongings, which was a bag of footballs and a bag of clothes living in a Studio 6 motel. I had the time of my life.”

While the accommodations weren’t the best, Ryan said it was all worth it.

“When you’re hungry enough to make it, you’ll sleep on the streets or in your car and do whatever you can to get that opportunity,” he said.

And the rest is well-known history for the Regina punter. He spent 12 years in the NFL as a member of the Packers and Seattle Seahawks, winning a Super Bowl with the latter in 2014.

But after a successful NFL career, Ryan took an opportunity of the lifetime for him and decided to come back home to play with the Roughriders. In his first season with Saskatchewan, Ryan has been booming the ball again, averaging 50.6 yards per punt — the same mark as his record-setting 2005 season.

“It is a bit of a surprise, to be honest. The prairie weather is coming so it’s not going to be easy to keep the numbers as high as they are now,” Ryan said.

He and the Roughriders will meet the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. Kickoff for the game at Mosaic Stadium is set for 5 p.m.

He’s also not looking forward to dealing with another Saskatchewan winter.

“I don’t miss Regina winters,” Ryan said. “I live in L.A. now in the off-season but I did miss the summers. The summer has been amazing being back here.”

As he heads out onto the field to punt for the Roughriders, he still thinks about his dad and how much Bob would’ve enjoyed seeing his son come home.

“I think he would’ve got a kick out of that, seeing his son go out in front of the hometown crowd,” Ryan said. “Every game, I have 20 to 30 family members here. The good thing about playing in Regina is that they all have season tickets so I don’t have to buy them tickets.”

The Green Zone pre-game show gets underway Saturday at 3 p.m.