True to his word, Jon Ryan is signing a 1-day contract to retire with the Seahawks
Jon Ryan will always have the most surprising pass at one of the biggest moments in Seahawks history.
With one of the most comical responses, too.
The punter from Canada still beloved by Seattle fans everywhere revived the Seahawks in the January 2015 NFC championship game with a fake field-goal pass. With his team trailing 16-0 late in the third quarter Ryan stunned the Green Bay Packers while running away from them with the ball as the holder. He then threw it to then-rookie reserve tackle Garry Gilliam for a most unlikely touchdown.
It began Seattle’s comeback to an overtime win that sent the Seahawks into their second consecutive Super Bowl.
After his wowing pass, Ryan turned to the Packers sideline where quarterback Aaron Rodgers was standing with his teammates. The punter then did the “Discount Double-Check” belt move Rodgers did in State Farm insurance commercials a decade ago.
There was also Ryan’s botched punt in a playoff game in 20-below weather in Minnesota, when he took off with the ball, tried to leap over a Vikings defender — and face-planted into the frozen turf. He broke his nose on that trick.
“I couldn’t just press L2 and jump outside,” Ryan said, in a Madden video-game reference. “I’m a middle-aged white guy. It doesn’t quite work that way.”
The Seahawks’ colorful, downright delightful punter from 2008 through 2017 and a Super Bowl champion on the 2014 team, is returning to the team’s headquarters Tuesday.
The 42-year-old Ryan will sign a ceremonial one-day contract with the Seahawks to retire with them Tuesday.
A league source confirmed to The News Tribune Monday Ryan’s retiring as a Seahawk. He entered the NFL in 2006 with the Packers as a rookie free agent from the University of Regina, in his Saskatchewan hometown.
He officially is exiting it in his second home.
Ryan hasn’t played in the NFL since that final season with the Seahawks seven years ago. He hasn’t played for any team since 2022, for his hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League.
The fact the Seahawks are bringing him back to retire officially years after he last played shows how beloved he remains around the team and the Pacific Northwest.
In the spring of 2018, the Seahawks traded up in the NFL draft to select booming-legged punter Michael Dickson out of the University of Texas by way of Australia. By late in that summer’s training camp, Ryan saw Dickson was better than he and was going to win Seattle’s punting job for the 2018 season.
So Ryan asked the Seahawks to release him. They did that August.
“I will always be a Seahawk,” he said on his way out of the Pacific Northwest and, eventually, back to his native Regina, Saskatchewan.
Tuesday, he will be again. Forever, in retirement.
Dickson has been a standout for the Seahawks since the team drafted him six years ago.
Ryan’s reaction to the Seahawks releasing him that summer?
“It sucked.”
Ryan is co-owner of the Portland Pickles, a collegiate summer wooden-bat league team.
On April Fools’ Day two weeks ago, the Pickles announced “plans to open Portland’s first vegan male strip club, The Pickle.”
Ryan said that day: “I’m honored to be the first performer on the main stage. If you’re wondering my stage name is Jonny Ginger Pickle. Owner/performer.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2024 at 9:58 PM.
