Partial
08-22-2007, 12:10 AM
From Tom Silverstein (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=650432)
By nature, Green Bay Packers punter Jon Ryan is a private man who would prefer not to burden anyone with his troubles or allow people to know he is hurting
He did his best to conduct his business in a professional manner last season under the strain of personal loss, but it was evident even to him that he wasn't the same person.
Less than a year later, that guy is somewhere in the past.
"I feel like a different person than last year," Ryan said. "I feel a lot more confident, a lot more comfortable and a lot more comfortable with my situation outside of football. I had a lot of things going on last year that weren't related to football that sometimes made it tough to be here."
Only a true optimist would have predicted that seven months after enduring the long, painful death from cancer of his father, Bob, Ryan would be punting with such excellence. He has been consistent in practice, and - more important - in both Packers exhibition games, driving the ball with the power and control he lacked much of his rookie season.
His mechanics have improved as a result of a new two-step delivery and his mind is clear and free of concern for his father's suffering.
"So far the preseason has been very good for him," special teams coach Mike Stock said. "Consistency is what you're seeking from anyone in performance and that's what we're getting from him. It's a good sign."
A year ago, Ryan's performance took a nosedive at midseason and became a cause for concern. Given the circumstances he was facing, it wasn't surprising that he struggled, especially considering the tug-of-war going on in his brain.
He wanted to be at home with his father, but he had an obligation to the team, something his father reminded him of many times during his final months.
During a three-week stretch beginning in late November, Ryan twice returned home to Regina, Saskatchewan, in between making trips to Seattle and San Francisco with the team. The first trip home was to speak his final words to his father and the second was to attend his father's funeral, which came just days before the Packers left for the 49ers game.
It's no surprise that Ryan's numbers suffered the final month or so of the season.
"It was all in about 10 days," Ryan recalled of the travel, "and I look back at it and it wasn't the best football I played. When I watched the film, it wasn't really me out there, and I think sometimes I was so numb I was going through the motions sometimes.
"It was difficult. I don't want to use it as an excuse for the poor games I had last year. But it's something I had to go through and my family had to go through."
Once he had time to allow the grieving and healing process to take place, Ryan went to work on the 2007 season. At the suggestion of Stock, he began working on shortening his steps from three to two, the theory being he would have fewer movements to worry about and the defense would have less chance of getting a block.
It was a fairly long process getting Ryan comfortable with the new punting style, but almost from the start of training camp it was evident he was hitting the ball with far more hang time than a year ago. He had showed a strong leg in the past, but often he outkicked the coverage or hit the ball too low to allow the coverage team to pin down the returner.
When the season was over, he ranked ninth in the NFL with a 44.5-yard gross average, but was 26th in net with a 35.7 mark.
"The big thing this year, I'm really driving up on the ball," Ryan said. "I have better hang time than I did last year. You can really see it in game film. I struggled at times with that last year.
"It's nice to hit those big 65-yard punts, but if you come back with a 35-, 32-yard punt with no hang time you're not going to make the coach happy. So I'm trying to eliminate those shorter ones. I'm just really working on the consistency part of it."
Ryan opened the exhibition season with a 37-yard punt with a substandard hang time of 3.44 seconds. But since then he has been hitting the ball long and high. He has had only one punt shorter than 47 yards and that was a coffin-corner punt that he landed at the 5-yard line against Pittsburgh.
He has had three punts of 50 or more yards, including a 63-yarder Saturday night against Seattle.
Not including the punt he landed at the 5, his hang times have all been above 4.5 seconds, including 4.82 on a 55-yard touchback that should have been downed at the 1-yard line against the Steelers.
During the exhibition season, Ryan ranks ninth in the NFL in gross average with a 48.9 mark and 10th in net average at 41.6. He has a long way to go before he can claim those numbers as his own for an entire season, but the two-step technique is helping him get there.
"Everything is more compact," Ryan said. "You just take that one step out of there and you take a margin of error out of the kicking. It's also just having the two steps being very compact. If you start to have problems it's very easy to correct.
"With a small correction I can be right be back on track, whereas last year I might have to change up two or three things to correct one thing, which was a little more difficult."
Able to focus on football full time, Ryan is looking forward to a better season. Bob might not be around to see it, but Jon is pretty sure that he already proved himself to the one guy that matters.
"I think he was proud of me the way I handled it and the way I went about my business," Ryan said. "I think he's up there still pretty proud."
By nature, Green Bay Packers punter Jon Ryan is a private man who would prefer not to burden anyone with his troubles or allow people to know he is hurting
He did his best to conduct his business in a professional manner last season under the strain of personal loss, but it was evident even to him that he wasn't the same person.
Less than a year later, that guy is somewhere in the past.
"I feel like a different person than last year," Ryan said. "I feel a lot more confident, a lot more comfortable and a lot more comfortable with my situation outside of football. I had a lot of things going on last year that weren't related to football that sometimes made it tough to be here."
Only a true optimist would have predicted that seven months after enduring the long, painful death from cancer of his father, Bob, Ryan would be punting with such excellence. He has been consistent in practice, and - more important - in both Packers exhibition games, driving the ball with the power and control he lacked much of his rookie season.
His mechanics have improved as a result of a new two-step delivery and his mind is clear and free of concern for his father's suffering.
"So far the preseason has been very good for him," special teams coach Mike Stock said. "Consistency is what you're seeking from anyone in performance and that's what we're getting from him. It's a good sign."
A year ago, Ryan's performance took a nosedive at midseason and became a cause for concern. Given the circumstances he was facing, it wasn't surprising that he struggled, especially considering the tug-of-war going on in his brain.
He wanted to be at home with his father, but he had an obligation to the team, something his father reminded him of many times during his final months.
During a three-week stretch beginning in late November, Ryan twice returned home to Regina, Saskatchewan, in between making trips to Seattle and San Francisco with the team. The first trip home was to speak his final words to his father and the second was to attend his father's funeral, which came just days before the Packers left for the 49ers game.
It's no surprise that Ryan's numbers suffered the final month or so of the season.
"It was all in about 10 days," Ryan recalled of the travel, "and I look back at it and it wasn't the best football I played. When I watched the film, it wasn't really me out there, and I think sometimes I was so numb I was going through the motions sometimes.
"It was difficult. I don't want to use it as an excuse for the poor games I had last year. But it's something I had to go through and my family had to go through."
Once he had time to allow the grieving and healing process to take place, Ryan went to work on the 2007 season. At the suggestion of Stock, he began working on shortening his steps from three to two, the theory being he would have fewer movements to worry about and the defense would have less chance of getting a block.
It was a fairly long process getting Ryan comfortable with the new punting style, but almost from the start of training camp it was evident he was hitting the ball with far more hang time than a year ago. He had showed a strong leg in the past, but often he outkicked the coverage or hit the ball too low to allow the coverage team to pin down the returner.
When the season was over, he ranked ninth in the NFL with a 44.5-yard gross average, but was 26th in net with a 35.7 mark.
"The big thing this year, I'm really driving up on the ball," Ryan said. "I have better hang time than I did last year. You can really see it in game film. I struggled at times with that last year.
"It's nice to hit those big 65-yard punts, but if you come back with a 35-, 32-yard punt with no hang time you're not going to make the coach happy. So I'm trying to eliminate those shorter ones. I'm just really working on the consistency part of it."
Ryan opened the exhibition season with a 37-yard punt with a substandard hang time of 3.44 seconds. But since then he has been hitting the ball long and high. He has had only one punt shorter than 47 yards and that was a coffin-corner punt that he landed at the 5-yard line against Pittsburgh.
He has had three punts of 50 or more yards, including a 63-yarder Saturday night against Seattle.
Not including the punt he landed at the 5, his hang times have all been above 4.5 seconds, including 4.82 on a 55-yard touchback that should have been downed at the 1-yard line against the Steelers.
During the exhibition season, Ryan ranks ninth in the NFL in gross average with a 48.9 mark and 10th in net average at 41.6. He has a long way to go before he can claim those numbers as his own for an entire season, but the two-step technique is helping him get there.
"Everything is more compact," Ryan said. "You just take that one step out of there and you take a margin of error out of the kicking. It's also just having the two steps being very compact. If you start to have problems it's very easy to correct.
"With a small correction I can be right be back on track, whereas last year I might have to change up two or three things to correct one thing, which was a little more difficult."
Able to focus on football full time, Ryan is looking forward to a better season. Bob might not be around to see it, but Jon is pretty sure that he already proved himself to the one guy that matters.
"I think he was proud of me the way I handled it and the way I went about my business," Ryan said. "I think he's up there still pretty proud."