Edmonton Eskimos long snapper Ryan King is the club’s nominee for the 2019 Jake Gaudaur Veterans’ Award, given annually to the CFL player who best demonstrates the attributes of Canada’s veterans: strength, perseverance, courage, comradeship and contribution to their community.
The award also recognizes Jake Gaudaur – the longest-standing CFL Commissioner and a distinguished veteran of World War II.
Ryan’s daily interactions with business operations staff and his appreciation shown to everyone involved in creating a positive game-day experience at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium is a true testament to his character. It’s not uncommon to see Ryan go out of his way to say hello, shake hands and learn game-day staff members’ names and to thank them for the work they do to help him and his teammates succeed on the field.
Ryan is a long-time CFLPA player representative and offers guidance to his fellow players, while also serving as a bridge between staff and his peers. King has traveled to Kuwait and the Ukraine alongside fellow CFL players to visit members of the Canadian Armed Forces. He is an active member of the community, taking part in initiatives such as KingCarty Football Camp and has partnered with KidSport to create Kings Kids – a program which welcomes underprivileged youth to experience Eskimos’ home games. King spent Edmonton’s two bye weeks this season speaking with students and running football camps in Fort McMurray, Alta., and in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.
Since joining the Eskimos in 2012, Ryan has been one of the club’s most active community ambassadors. This year alone, Ryan has been an ambassador for the TELUS Wise anti-bullying program, is a consistent figure with the numerous Eskimos tackle and flag football initiatives and has shared his journey to becoming a professional athlete to thousands of youth at several school assemblies.
This year’s Jake Gaudaur Veterans’ Award recipient – chosen from the field of nine nominees, one from each CFL club – will be honoured during the Shaw CFL Awards on Thursday, Nov. 21 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
