New York Giants punter Jamie Gillan was thrust into double duty during Sunday night’s preseason victory over the Cincinnati Bengals when placekicker Graham Gano left the game with a concussion.
Gano was kicked in the head attempting to tackle Bengals returner Chris Evans during his 73-yard kickoff return in which the Giants blew the coverage.
Gillan was called upon to do the placekicking duties as Gano is the only kicker the Giants had on their roster for that game, or in training camp for that matter.
Gillan, nicknamed the “Scottish Hammer,” handled things without a hitch kicking a 31-yard field goal, a PAT and booting three kickoffs, two of which went for touchbacks and the third was retuned for just 17 yards.
But Gillan wasn’t the only ‘next man up’ in the kicking operation. As the holder for Gano, he needed to be replaced as well.
Enter the Giants’ everyman, Julian Love, the versatile defensive back and special teamer who continues to prove his worth at every twist and turn. Gillan was asked if there was anything Love couldn’t do.
“I’m going to say he can’t golf very well,” Gillan said laughingly.
“No, he’s a good golfer. Maybe we should line him up for a couple of field goals this week too, see if he can get all of them — long snap, hold. Check all of the boxes for the year for him, right? I haven’t met a teammate like him to be able to do everything like that. We were literally on the sideline looking at each other and I was teaching him how to hold. Maybe three holds later, he had it down. I just said, ‘Don’t worry about the laces. We’ll poke it through.’ He nailed it. A great athlete.”
That could be said for Gillan, too. He also gave the Giants some more peace of mind with his performance. On a night where the special teams were anything but special, Gillan and Love stepped in and saved them from an embarrassing showing altogether.
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