JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A longtime member of the Jacksonville Jaguars organization is receiving one of the highest honors in football. Former head athletic trainer Mike Ryan will be recognized in Canton as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 Awards of Excellence.
Ryan spent nearly two decades as the Jaguars' first head athletic trainer -- the youngest to ever hold that position in the NFL.
"It was great," Ryan said. "I loved it. I loved the Jaguars organization, the staff, the people I worked with. It just was a lot of fun. I dreamed of being an athletic trainer. I still remember the day that my guidance counselor slid a paper across the table on careers in athletic training. Right then as a sophomore in high school I said I want to be an athletic trainer working in the NFL and it was a dream come true."
Ryan joined the franchise in 1994, taking on one of the most important roles -- keeping players healthy.
"We just kind of focused on getting people better," Ryan said. "I think the way we kind of focus on our jobs as athletic trainers and physical therapists to help the players do their job."
"The bond and the relationship as an athletic trainer and physical therapist you have with the athlete is very special," Ryan said. "You deal with them as men. You deal with them as individuals and becoming friends with them and keeping them healthy. We took a lot of responsibility and a lot of pride in doing that day in and day out."
Ryan is one of three athletic trainers -- and the youngest ever -- to be honored at the 2026 Awards of Excellence.
"I get very emotional when I think about it because of what goes behind it," Ryan said. "I see that award more as a reflection of the people I work with. I had an amazing staff—the athletic trainers, the doctors—all of the staff for the Jaguars; the doctors here at Baptist Medical Center and JOI. I had a great staff and I think that award says as much about them as it does me but it’s a great honor."
He now becomes just the second Jaguar recognized in Canton, joining executive vice president and Hall of Famer Tony Boselli.
"Excited to say that we're both back there in a better fashion if you will," Ryan said.
From a high school dream in New England... to becoming the NFL's youngest assistant athletic trainer with the New York Giants at 25... to decades on the sidelines... Ryan says the journey has meant everything.
"Thank you to the Jaguars," Ryan said."They gave me an opportunity.They believed in me and I hope they're proud of this as well because I'm very proud to say I'm part of that Jaguar family."
"For me to have a career that I can look back on with really, really fond memories," Ryan said."I love what I did and I still do.Sports medicine and helping people is my hobby,it's not a job."
Ryan retired after the 2013 season and now serves as a sports medicine analyst for NBC Sports and Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football while continuing consulting work.
Ryan will be honored in Canton later this year, representing the Jaguars and the athletic training profession on one of football's biggest stages.