Berea, OH (92.3 The Fan) – Earlier this year Jamie Gillan bought four new NFL footballs so he could begin practicing auditioning for a pro job.
He kicked the cold Arkansas air out of three of them.
Literally.
And so, the legend of ‘The Scottish Hammer’ continued.
“I was kicking them, and I could hear the air coming out of them,” Gillan said.
At $100 a ball, Gillan was extra careful with the fourth until replacements arrived, oddly enough, courtesy of the Browns and 49ers – two teams he worked out for.
“It was like Christmas,” Gillan said. “I had 12 footballs, the most footballs I’ve ever had.”
Gillan, signed last week by the Browns as an undrafted free agent, will compete with veteran Britton Colquitt for the punting job this offseason once whatever minor injury that kept him from kicking this weekend heals.
“I can’t wait. I did a lot of research on him before I came here,” Gillan said. “I watched a lot of his film. He’s such a great punter, great with technique and fundamentals. With him going into his 10th year, what better opportunity than to learn from someone like that?
“Hopefully he accepts me, and we get to work together and accept we’re going to be competing for the spot, but I’m also trying to learn as well.”
Gillan’s road to Cleveland is a legend itself.
Born in the Highlands of Scotland, Gillan went to boarding school while his father, a member of the Royal Air Force, was stationed in Maryland.
“It looked a lot like Hogwarts,” Gillan said of the school he attended before joining his parents in the U.S. when he was 17.
Gillan accepted a scholarship from Arkansas Pine-Bluff sight unseen after a friend saw on Facebook that the school was looking for a kicker and his information was sent in. It didn’t take long for Gillan to receive a phone call.
“I’m not going to lie to you guys, I had not heard of the state of Arkansas in my life before they called,” Gillan, who confessed that he looked the state up on a map while on the flight to his first visit, said.
Gillan won All-SWAC honors as both a kicker and punter.
As a senior, Gillan averaged 42.5 yards per punt with 27 of them downed inside the 20. He averaged 43.7 yards per punt and had 17 downed inside the 20 as a junior. He also made 20 of 29 field goal attempts last season, his longest successful kick coming from 47 yards.
Gillan studied physical education and kinesiology in college because he wanted to become a strength and conditioning coach and play rugby professionally.
He now finds himself auditioning for an NFL job.
Gillan had plenty of NFL opportunities – nearly 20 teams showed interest, but he chose the Browns because of a unique connection with special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and general manager John Dorsey.
Gillan’s father works in anti-submarine warfare, which is what Priefer did while serving in the Navy. When he joined his parents in the states, Gillan spent his last two years of high school in Dorsey’s hometown – Leonardtown, Maryland – where he played soccer and rugby.
Gillan decided to give football a try after he saw a kicker hit an offensive lineman on an extra point attempt and thought he could do better.
“I went up to the coach after the game and I told him I had a rugby playing background, and I’ve been able to do torpedo punts since I was 8 years old,” Gillan said.
He tried out and made the team as a punter and kicker, which is where the real legend of ‘The Scottish Hammer’ began.
His high school coach gave him the nickname, and it’s stuck since.
Now he hopes to stick with the Browns, and maybe blow out a few footballs too.
