Jon Hameister-Ries

[Ravi]

Does anyone on here watch MasterChef Canada? I never have until today and saw that none other than former B.C. Lion Jon Hameister-Ries is one of the 16 finalists on the show. On the most recent episode he made a nice-looking steak which helped him to advance to the round of 16. There was a lot of drama as it was between him and a woman for the 16th and final spot and Hameister-Ries made it. He said that hearing his name being called was as thrilling as anything that happened in all of his years playing football (I don't think he meant this to be insulting to his football career). Anyway, I think I might watch a few more episodes at least to see how far Hameister-Ries can go.

[sj-roc]

More on his post-football career here:

http://www.zlc.net/our-people/jon-hameister-ries/

[Toppy Vann]

These shows seem to also like people with backgrounds like his that might attract more viewers and broaden the base.
Also these type have good public personalities.

Notice John McKeachie is at this same Marty Zlotnik firm. That's a lot of successful folks there.

[DanoT]

I was hoping when I read the thread title that this was going to be about a JHR comeback, so congrats to H-Ries but I am disappointed that it is about a cooking show.

[TheLionKing]

Matt Dunigan now has competition.

[WestCoastJoe]

Best wishes to the big guy. He had a poutine shop in town. Still there?

Star crossed career in football. Could not stay healthy. Very effective when able to play.

[Rammer]

Matt Dunigan now has competition.

No, Matt used the bbq, he is still holding the bar level on the cooking shows.

[JohnHenry]

Hopefully he doesn't throw his back out whipping up a souffle and has to go on the 6-show injury list?

[hwgill]

He won the Mystery Box Challenge wih a pretty dessert today. I'm cheering for him (I'm also a fan of the show).

[sj-roc]

He won the Mystery Box Challenge wih a pretty dessert today. I'm cheering for him (I'm also a fan of the show).

Just saw this tweet about it:

[sj-roc]

A recent LU article from the Province on how JHR credits his appearance on the aforementioned cooking show with helping turn his post-football life around. There's a recipe near the end so you may not want to read this on too empty of a stomach.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Life+ ... story.html

Ullrich: Life after football was tough for ex-Lion, until a reality cooking show 'saved my life'
By Lowell Ullrich, The Province March 21, 2015

Jon Hameister-Reis was never in the spotlight when he played games at work. Offensive linemen almost always live in the shadows. But he did get close enough to recognize a tale about recovery and perseverance.

It was easy to spot because it is looking him in the mirror daily.

It is easy to pick him out these days because he is appearing on television each week, and it would be easy to ask a former B.C. Lions guard or any other contestant on MasterChef Canada to tell a story about the notoriety that comes with being on a network reality show.

It would be more accurate to relate, he admits, how a cooking show helped him get his life back.

At 31, he was going through the withdrawal faced by most pro athletes who do not leave the field on their own terms. It takes a hard-core CFL follower to know Hameister-Ries even had a football career because of the injuries that were his constant companion during six seasons with the Lions.

He hadn’t just lost his job when he couldn’t make it back from his third back operation and 11th surgical procedure, and was cut just before the 2013 season. He had no other means of financial support. He had, in his words, not much else at all, and to a large extent he had his dedication toward football to blame.

“I thought of running home to Edmonton and living in my parents’ basement,” Hameister-Ries said, barely filling out a downtown street bench where he discussed his turnaround because of the 60 pounds he has dropped since his playing days.

“I considered myself prepared. I had my education. I was starting another business. But the way I got knocked down, I wasn’t ready for the transition. I was broke. My wife had just left me. It cost me my health. I went through the worst two years of my life and it almost killed me. I was at my lowest of lows. I was hobbling around, frail and defeated. I wasn’t the same person.”

And a cooking show is responsible for his revival?

“Totally ... it saved my life,” he said.

It wasn’t just getting on the CTV series that turned things around, but a self-described obsession for all shows of similar genre Hameister-Ries got to watch because of the time he spent on the couch rehabbing from all his injuries.

A different culinary connection had been established a few years after he became a regular with the Lions. The ex-lineman opened Mean Poutine, a takeout diner on Nelson Street where a billboard (Get Drunk, Eat Poutine) appeals to a slightly less sophisticated palate than those being tempted on television.

Being a restaurateur was supposed to be something that took care of him after his career. But by putting off the inevitable, Hameister-Ries had been inspiring others.

“Toughest player I’ve ever played with,” former teammate and Province columnist Angus Reid once wrote.

“Football is a hard game, and it takes tough people to play it, but every once in a while there comes someone who goes above and beyond expectations. The will to constantly fight back and the strength to deal with unimaginable daily pain, all to pursue what you love, is not something seen every day.”

With Hameister-Reis, it is evident twice in the same lifetime.

The day he was accepted on the cooking show last August, Hameister-Ries landed a job from his MBA at a Vancouver financial services firm, ZLC Financial. That has led to another pitch he intends to make to the CFL Players Association at the union’s annual meeting April 15 to improve post-career health benefits.

“I’m on a mission to say your benefits aren’t what you think they are,” he said. “As football players, we think we’re invincible. They don’t plan for something to happen. They play for good things to happen. The mentality needs to change.”

What didn’t change was his outlook while on MasterChef Canada, which resumes Sunday night (7 p.m., CTV) with Hameister-Ries still in the running for the top prize despite admittedly appearing to be out of his element.

“I was probably the worst cook going in there. These guys were crazy good. They’d go on cooking vacations,” he said. “But I knew I had this competitive edge because of football. People were bleeping their pants before they cooked. This is where I had my edge. Take the coaching and apply the principles that made me successful in football to this competition.”

They are the same principles that form the business platform for another planned restaurant launch this summer with the help of two ex-Lions teammates, Andrew Harris and Andrew Jones.

Meat City Sandwiches, said Hameister-Ries, will not be just another business venture, but one that will prompt changes like the ones he made on his own.

“I want kids to get into nutrition. We’re going to have a charity to teach nutrition to at-risk youth. I’ve always admired people who take the extra step and not just find a way to profit,” he said.

From giving up, Hameister-Ries is now into giving back. In addition to profitable pursuits, he also has become involved in charitable endeavours, like the KidSport Richmond fundraiser April 10 at the Vancouver Airport Hilton featuring a number of his former teammates.

“This thing I have inside me, I’m ready to do it. I wasn’t ready when I was hurt,” he said. “I’m all in. There’s no turning back; no hedging my bets. This is more than a leap of faith.”

It’s not a bad reality show all by itself, either.

GRANDMA RIES’S LAZY DAY PEROGIES

It should come as no surprise that the food item that inspired former lineman Jon Hameister-Ries came from his grandmother, Marian. Here’s the recipe he says inspired him to get an apron:

Pan: 9x13

Temperature: 350ºF

Time: 30-40 mins.

Ingredients: 15 cooked lasagna noodles.

Combine 2 cups cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1/4 tsp. onion salt.

Combine 1 cup grated medium cheddar cheese, 2 cups mashed potatoes, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. onion salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper.

Fry 1/2 lb. chopped bacon, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup chopped onion

Assemble 5 noodles on bottom, layer cottage cheese, 5 more noodles, potato mixture, 5 noodles, top with bacon mixture.

Cover with foil and bake. Serve with sour cream.

OTHER FORMER LIONS ON THE SMALL SCREEN

Jon Hameister-Ries said cooking has helped fuel a competitive passion, but he’s not the only former CFL player to make a comfortable transition to the small screen.

1) Sebastian Clovis may have been known as the Canadian safety who couldn’t unseat Barron Miles during his two seasons with the Lions before a knee injury ultimately derailed his career, but he was a regular on his own home improvement series, Tackle My Reno. The HGTV series, according to a press release, featured Clovis as he rescues homeowners struggling with DIY projects to make their homes the highlight of the neighbourhood.

2) Hameister-Ries was beaten into the ranks of former player turned cooking expert by ex-Lions quarterback Matt Dunigan, host of Road Grill on Gusto TV, where he puts his expertise in Louisiana barbecue to good use.

3) Possibly the former Lions player who has the most overall small-screen time is former safety Tommy Europe, who parlayed an 11-year CFL career into a variety of promotional speaking and personal training endeavours, including a regular spot on Spice TV’s The Last 10 Pounds Bootcamp.