The fan-favorite punter and part-time quarterback will retire as a Seahawk.
Longtime Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan announced his retirement less than two years ago, but he’s returning to the Seahawks roster one last time.
The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta reported on Monday that the 42-year-old Ryan is signing a one-day contract to formally retire as a member of the Seahawks.
Ryan was the Seahawks punter from 2008 to 2017, appearing in 159 consecutive regular season games and 14 playoff games, including a Super Bowl victory in the 2013 season.
“[John Schneider] said we had to do it before the draft, because it does take up a roster spot for the day, which I was unaware of,” Ryan told Condotta.
After the Seahawks drafted Michael Dickson in 2018, Ryan was let go during preseason and eventually returned to his native Canada, where he punted for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Elks.
Even though Ryan is the Seahawks’ all-time leader in punting yards, his greatest play was a fake field goal touchdown pass to Garry Gilliam in the 2014 NFC Championship Game over the Green Bay Packers. This kickstarted the Seahawks’ dramatic comeback from 16-0 down to win 28-22 in overtime.
Someone should find out where Gilliam is just so he can be at the retirement ceremony.
What has Jon been up to since his retirement? Investing in minor league baseball teams, including the Portland Pickles.
He was always a baseball fan, so he began to consider opportunities to run or own a minor league baseball team, which eventually led him to Alan Miller and the two became the majority owners a year later of the Portland Pickles of the West Coast League, a collegiate summer wooden bat league.
“I didn’t realize I’d play five or six more years,” he said.
Indeed, after his release from the Seahawks he played two seasons with his hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders and one more in Edmonton in 2022.
Ryan and Miller have since bought into two other minor league baseball teams — the Lake County Captains, a team in Eastlake, Ohio, that is a High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, and the Cleburne (Texas) Railroaders, an independent team, and Dallas Jackals Rugby.
It is unknown what Ryan’s cap hit will be or how it impacts the Seahawks’ long-term plans at the quarterback position. He will not count against the compensatory draft pick formula.
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