Promotion
Regina's Finest

Regina's Finest

By Rob Longley

Jon Ryan admits the Canadian jokes have stopped now that he is midway through his second season punting for the Green Bay Packers.

There are still the occasional reminders from his teammates, however.

“A lot of bad versions of O Canada,” Ryan said in a recent interview. “Some of the guys still think it’s kind of funny. They give me a hard time but I’m proud to be a Canadian so that’s okay.”

Signed for his booming leg showcased during a couple of years in the CFL, Ryan has quickly adjusted to life in the NFL and the football mecca in northern Wisconsin.

Longtime Packers equipment manager Gordon (Red) Batty has also been a big help in the acclimation process.

“Red has helped a lot, just to learn the ropes around here,” Ryan said of the Montreal native and diehard hockey fan. “It’s good to have another Canadian around to let me know where I can find Saturday night hockey.”

Ryan’s rise to such an elite level is a big endorsement for grassroots football in Canada. The Regina native honed his skills playing CIS ball for the Regina Rams before enjoying two strong seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL.

“It was a huge jump from Canadian college to the CFL,” Ryan said. “It gave me that game experience and the ability to be a little more comfortable on the field and learn to be a professional football player.

“Really, it gave me the experience I needed to make the transition and take that next step.”

So far, Ryan is on pace to become the statistically most successful kicker in the history of the storied Packers franchise.

He is averaging better than 44 yards per punt and is gradually improving on the finesse part of the kicking game that is more important in the NFL.

Along the way, he has impressed coaches and teammates.

“You don’t even have to watch the guy kick the football to know he has a sound leg and a strong leg,” Packers special teams coordinator Mike Stock said.

“You can close your eyes and listen to the boom and you know he’s making good contact all the time. You can tell by the sound that he’s got it.”

“He’s a pro,” said the man whose job is to get Ryan the ball, Packers long snapper Rod Davis. “He comes to work every day and works on his craft. Then he goes out on Sunday and tries to do what his job calls for.

“He’s a good locker room guy and he has he respect of he guys around here.”

Adjusting from three-down football, where the punting game generally is one based more on power and less on precision, has taken some studious adapting.

In the CFL, the cannon in his leg worked well as he led the league with a 50.6 yard gross punting average in 2005.

To use a golfing analogy though, it’s nice to have the driver in the bag, but in the NFL you should also have a touch with the wedge.

“Obviously in the CFL it’s a little different - you really try just to line drive it,” Ryan said. “Here you have to have a little more finesse. That’s something I worked on a lot last year and a lot in the off-season and it’s something I’ll always get better at.

“Like in golf, you need the short game too.”

With the help of Stock and some serious practice, Ryan tinkered with his swing. He switched from a three to a two-step drop and the result has been more hang time, a big help to the Packers punt coverage unit.

“One of the things we thought we had to do to help our coverage unit is to make an emphasis on Jon punting the ball up and out not just out,” Stock said. “Without that, he can outkick his coverage.”

Sweet Suisham

Ryan certainly isn’t the only Canadian getting his kicks in the NFL this year as Wallaceburg, Ont. native Shawn Suisham continues to impress with the Washington Redskins.

Suisham booted home five field goals, including a 46-yarder in overtime - to lead Washington to a 23-20 win over the Jets this past weekend.

Suisham, who like Ryan is represented by Canadian agent Gil Scott, is quickly winning over his teammates including Fred Smoot.

“I don’t think he’s a real emotional guy - that’s probably good for a field-goal kicker,” said Smoot, who can’t pronounced Suisham’s name so calls him Shazam instead.