North Bay's Ryan Hunter faces off against hometown hero in Grey Cup game

Ryan Hunter first fell in love with football watching it on TV with his family when he was growing up in the small northern Ontario city of North Bay.

He convinced his parents to let him play in the local youth football league, was scouted at a March Break camp to finish his high school career in Buffalo, N.Y, then moved onto college and now gets paid to play the game.

The 27-year-old offensive lineman hopes the same thing happens to some other northern Ontario kids this Sunday watching him in the Grey Cup game.

"I get excited for the kids growing up watching the game, because that's who I was when I was a kid, looking up to the people from my hometown," said Hunter. 

"So hopefully watching this week or watching this game, someone gets motivated and wants to work harder and be a professional football player."

One of the people Hunter looked up to was Mike O'Shea. The North Bay native and hall of fame linebacker has six Grey Cup rings and will be going for his third title in a row on Sunday as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Hunter already has a championship ring from the 2020 Super Bowl, when he was an undressed bench player with the victorious Kansas City side.

Although, he says it's too showy for him and he doesn't wear it often.

Hunter talks about his time in the National Football League, the salaries for pro athletes in Canada and his French education in this interview with CBC Radio's Morning North.