Seattle signs Jon Ryan for six years.

[Iron Mike]

I blame Mike Stock.

And Kurt Schottenheimer.

And the previous conditioning coach.

And Jarrett Bush.

Rock Gullickson.

[Fritz]

And Bob Sanders, yes, and Rock Gullickson, yes. Thank you.

Seriously, I think that KY is right - if a QB pisses everyone off but he's got lots of talent, he's probably not going to get cut just as he enters his prime. And I do hope TT learned his lesson on that one, too.

IF the guy keeps working he should get better and better.

[TennesseePackerBacker]

I blame Mike Stock.

And Kurt Schottenheimer.

And the previous conditioning coach.

And Jarrett Bush.

Rock Gullickson.

When he was hired I remember posters lining up to suck him off. Weren't we one of the most injured teams under his reign? He tried to implement free weight training or was it cable machines?

[pbmax]

I blame Mike Stock.

And Kurt Schottenheimer.

And the previous conditioning coach.

And Jarrett Bush.

Rock Gullickson.

When he was hired I remember posters lining up to suck him off. Weren't we one of the most injured teams under his reign? He tried to implement free weight training or was it cable machines?

He was the free weight guy a year or two after the Packers bought a boatload of new machines from Soloflex's 1-800 number.

It actually seemed to work in the first year and part of the second. But things soon returned to normal. The Justin Harrell back injury occurred during his offseason workouts in 2008 and shortly after the injury every reporter had a story about how fat and out of shape Harrell had gotten after he went home. Patler did some heavy investigative reporting (he looked at a calendar) and found that Harrell had only a few weeks off between the season and the start of the offseason workouts. It seemed unlikely he had ballooned enough to be a danger to himself. The stories also failed to ask why Harrell was not supervised properly during the time he was lifting unwisely.

The reporting was so negative based on this "fact" that I (and others) speculated Gullickson was the source of the story and was covering his behind. Except for the Summer of Favre story about his first recanted unretirement, it has been very rare for the team to push out a negative story like this. This happened in early 2008. Gullickson would only last one more year.

[Guiness]

... he's just fun to pick on since he's canadian.

I can't believe you'd pick on somebody just because they're Canadian.

Did they pay him in Canadian dollars? That would save the club $280,000 US$...

1 USD = 1.03303CD

[Guiness]

Well, Stock seriously has to take a lot of the blame for that (course, he paid with his job). You can't coach that kind of leg strength.

Ryan evidently really pissed everybody off on the staff, but you have to look past that stuff and develop the talent. Stock didn't do that & I hope TT learned his lesson in that little episode.

?

I never hear that...or at least don't remember it?

Was he an ass?

That was still one heck of a way to go. Only punter in training camp, didn't bring in anyone to challenge him, no indication the job was anything but his. Then dump him between TC and week 1. I don't think I've ever seen that happen to a 1st stringer at any position, even punter.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

I blame Mike Stock.

And Kurt Schottenheimer.

And the previous conditioning coach.

And Jarrett Bush.

Let's call a spade a spade.

It is really Ron Wolf's fault.

[KYPack]

Well, Stock seriously has to take a lot of the blame for that (course, he paid with his job). You can't coach that kind of leg strength.

Ryan evidently really pissed everybody off on the staff, but you have to look past that stuff and develop the talent. Stock didn't do that & I hope TT learned his lesson in that little episode.

?

I never hear that...or at least don't remember it?

Was he an ass?

That was still one heck of a way to go. Only punter in training camp, didn't bring in anyone to challenge him, no indication the job was anything but his. Then dump him between TC and week 1. I don't think I've ever seen that happen to a 1st stringer at any position, even punter.

Ryan was a good kid & all. But he pissed Stock off, a lot.

Ryan had the huge leg and liked to use/show it off. Sometimes when he wanted to hit a real boomer, he would take a 3 step approach. That can result in blocks. & it drove Stock nuts.

I think Fritz is right, you have to respect as much physical ability as Ryan had and get to him mentally right to become a disciplined player. Coaching is getting in these guy's head, and Stock failed at that.

Ryan should still be on our roster.

I'm glad coach Stock "retired". He deserved his fate.

[KYPack]

I blame Mike Stock.

And Kurt Schottenheimer.

And the previous conditioning coach.

And Jarrett Bush.

Rock Gullickson.

When he was hired I remember posters lining up to suck him off. Weren't we one of the most injured teams under his reign? He tried to implement free weight training or was it cable machines?

He was the free weight guy a year or two after the Packers bought a boatload of new machines from Soloflex's 1-800 number.

It actually seemed to work in the first year and part of the second. But things soon returned to normal. The Justin Harrell back injury occurred during his offseason workouts in 2008 and shortly after the injury every reporter had a story about how fat and out of shape Harrell had gotten after he went home. Patler did some heavy investigative reporting (he looked at a calendar) and found that Harrell had only a few weeks off between the season and the start of the offseason workouts. It seemed unlikely he had ballooned enough to be a danger to himself. The stories also failed to ask why Harrell was not supervised properly during the time he was lifting unwisely.

The reporting was so negative based on this "fact" that I (and others) speculated Gullickson was the source of the story and was covering his behind. Except for the Summer of Favre story about his first recanted unretirement, it has been very rare for the team to push out a negative story like this. This happened in early 2008. Gullickson would only last one more year.

Yeah, it's a good thing we've got PB and Patler roaming around on this forum. They keep the rest of us "straight". I fell for that bit of Harrell propaganda at first, too.

When Gullickson was around, there were stories from time to time on what a great strength coach he was. Old Rock would use the media to pump up his own importance.

You really don't hear anything about Dave Redding. He is one of the NFL's legendary strength coaches. Red Man just does his job and gets results. He's able to keep his gig that way and doesn't need any self generated PR to look important.

Usually when teams change strength coaches, they make other changes. If the previous guys liked machines, they get a new guy that preaches free weights. If the old coach was a machine freak, they get a free weight guru.

Red Man has a different approach. He puts in programs for everybody. Then he makes 'em go in the weight room on time and lift that shit. No playing around, no bullshit, just lift and get strong. Works pretty good.

[3irty1]

Remember when Jon Ryan channeled his inner Barry Sanders and ran like 10 yards for a first down when that snap was botched in 2007?

[woodbuck27]

Jon Ryan has one of the best net averages in the year this year...

and for us... our net on punts is 4 yards lower then it was when we had Jon Ryan. So he performed bad in the playoffs... it was like his first year.

Give him a break, he was young, could boom them a mile, and was improving. Give it a year and he'll be one of the few premier punters in this league... and apparently seattle agrees.

I don't doubt any of this. Never really had a problem with him... he's just fun to pick on since he's canadian.

Hey Dinkledorf!

he's just fun to pick on since he's canadian

That's ... Canadian ... with a Capitol 'C'. I'll always defend Jon Ryan as it's not normal to get a break and bring in a player of his overall talent.

Some of you brownheads on this forum will never admit the state of the punting we find ourselves in right now was due to the foolish decision to dump Jon Ryan as we saw it.

Great for Jon Ryan all the same.

[Scott Campbell]

Good post Woody. And good for Ryan.

[swede]

Good post Woody. And good for Ryan.

...and all canadians everywhere.

[Patler]

A little perspective on Ryan's contract, which is long, but not real large in dollar value:

I suspect Ryan has benefited somewhat from the "Lechler effect". Lechler's contract with Oakland is for four years and is reported to have $16 million in base salary and another $3 million in incentives, with $9 million guaranteed. This should increase the perceived value of punters, who, except for a few, were often not paid much more than minimum salaries.

Under the existing CBA minimum veteran salary schedule, Ryan would have been entitled to around $5 million in minimum salaries. His total contract value of $9.1 million is a nice, but not outlandish increase over the minimum that would have been due to him.

The contract appears to be minimal risk for Seattle. With just $1.6 in a signing bonus, at worst they could release Ryan at any point with minimal impact even if there is a salary cap. At best, they have could have a stable punting situation for what is an eternity in the NFL (six years).

This could be Ryan's last (and only) significant NFL contract. He will be 35 the season after it expires. He's not likely to be offered any kind of long term deal at that point.

[packerbacker1234]

... he's just fun to pick on since he's canadian.

I can't believe you'd pick on somebody just because they're Canadian.

Did they pay him in Canadian dollars? That would save the club $280,000 US$...

1 USD = 1.03303CD

Glad someone got the exact numbers. You people do realize the almighty american dollar hasn't been fairing well for awhile, right?