Jon Ryan first began kicking a football alone in a school yard near his house and he would eventually do so on the biggest stage of the sport.
Ryan’s journey to playing 282 professional games as a punter began in a Regina playground. As a football fanatic, he would play with his friends and brother until they all had to go home and he was left with a football. With nothing else to do, Ryan would kick the ball on his own until dark.
He was also adept at catching and running with the ball as well. He won a provincial high school football championship with Sheldon Williams Collegiate as a senior. He reached the Vanier Cup with the University of Regina Rams in 2000. He led the Rams in receiving in 2001 and was named a first-team All-Canadian in 2003.
After being drafted by the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Ryan decided that his long-term professional future lay in punting the football instead of catching it. In his second season in Winnipeg he set a CFL record with a 50.6-yard punting average which stood for 19 years.
After two seasons in the CFL, Ryan joined Green Bay in the NFL. Jon learned his father Bob had terminal cancer during training camp. Ryan persevered to make the team and his father saw him play in the NFL in person shortly before passing away. He was released after two seasons in Green Bay, but Ryan found a home and his greatest success during his 10 seasons in Seattle.
The Seahawks won a playoff game in six of his seasons in Seattle. In the 2013 season, Ryan became the first Saskatchewan player win the Super Bowl as the Seahawks won their first title with a 43-8 win over Denver in Super Bowl XLVII.
Trailing 16-0 in the 2014 NFC Championship game, Ryan threw a touchdown pass on a fake punt. The touchdown sparked the Seahawks’ comeback for a 28-22 win over Green Bay as the Seahawks advanced to play in a second straight Super Bowl. He is the only player who was primarily a punter to throw a touchdown pass in the NFL playoffs.
Ryan was voted by his teammates to serve as one of the Seahawks captains for four straight seasons. He was named as one of the Seahawks’ Top 50 Players in 2025 for the team’s 50th anniversary.
He returned to the CFL in 2019 and fulfilled a childhood dream by playing two seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and a final season in Edmonton before retiring.
Ryan gave back to his hometown as well, establishing a $200,000 scholarship at the University of Regina named in his father’s honour in addition to raising funds for the Alan Blair Cancer Centre among other philanthropic efforts.
Installed in the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame on September 20, 2025.
