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'My goodness' - Scottish punter confuses NFL with classic rugby play
By Ian Cameron
Scottish NFL punter Jamie Gillan has confused American football fans and officials alike after drop-kicking the ball as he botched a snap for the New York Giants.
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Former rugby player Gillan dropped the ball during his side’s game with the Philadelphia Eagles over the weekend, a move that one pundit described as a ‘near disaster’, before kicking it off the ground.
The drop-kick apparently confused the NFL referees, who didn’t know what to make of the mangled move.
Gillan – AKA The Scottish Hammer – grew up playing the fifteen-man code and many people are drawing obvious parallels between his messed up play and his former sport, where drop kicks are not a mistake and in the right context – are encouraged.
Giants’ Jamie Gillan with the drop kick punt!? https://t.co/8JJvzoJYi4
— Off The Deck Sports (@OTDSports_) December 11, 2022
The Eagles ended up being given the ball on the 33-yard line as a result after it was ruled that the drop-kick was illegal.
It led one fan account to ask: “Did he do this on purpose? I can’t tell if the ball slipped or he forgot this isn’t rugby.”
Did he do this on purpose? I can’t tell if the ball slipped or he forgot this isn’t rugby
— Forgotten Patriots (@ForgottenPats) December 11, 2022
After a bright start in the sport, Gillan has hit a rough patch.
A former rugby player at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, where he would have played alongside the likes of Zach Mercer and Stafford McDowall, Gillan moved to the US in 2014, where he attended Leonardtown High School in Maryland. From there, he received a scholarship offer to attend Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
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The Browns picked up Gillan as an undrafted rookie in 2019, with the 23-year-old not being drafted following the conclusion of his four years as a college punter. According to reports, Gillan ruined three footballs with the strength of his punting during one pre-draft workout, but despite that impressive feat and a strong collegiate career, the Scot still went unselected in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Browns eventually dumped the Scot after a rocky season last year, after which the New York Giants came calling.
The NFL is pretty unforgiving of these sorts of gaffs. Now disgraced former NRL star Jared Hayne was released by the San Francisco 49ers after he fumbled a number of balls, despite proving to be a formidable attacking weapon in pre-season in 2015.
