Punter Jamie Gillan
Q: Excited to have as close to a home game as you can get here?
A: Yeah. It's going to be great. It's nice being home or as close as I can get to home playing football. It'll be great – great seeing some family and stuff.
Q: How many people are coming to the game?
A: My mom, my dad, my sister, a couple close friends. That's about it.
Q: Have you told your teammates what to expect from the stadium and the atmosphere?
A: Yes. Some people were asking and stuff. I know a lot of guys watched Ted Lasso (Laughs). I love that show, by the way. But just kind of the atmosphere of our football, their soccer. Different chants and stuff. Should be a really good experience for everybody.
Q: (Inaudible)
A: Oh nice, that's awesome.
Q: Did you guys have a rugby ball out at practice the other day?
A: Yeah. I live right beside a couple of the guys who play on the major league rugby team. So, got them some tickets to the game. They loved it. Gave me a ball for the guys to chuck around, so it was pretty funny seeing people catch it and looking like, 'What on earth is this?' So just to chuck around (laughs).
Q: Do you've got any plans to show what you can do with a ball in your hands?
A: That's a T-Mac (Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey) question.
Q: Do you feel like you're in the best form you've been since coming to the Giants?
A: I just take it one day at a time. I'm in a really good situation right now. I'm playing in the National Football League. It's pretty cool. I give it my all every day to be the best punter I can be for this team. I'm here for a reason – to perform at a high level because I can do it. So, I'm just going to keep plugging away every day and take it one step at a time.
Q: A couple British guys going into the NFL said there's a period of adjustment with their teammates sort of thing. Their teammates maybe thinking, 'What's the British guy doing in here?' Have you ever experienced that in your NFL career? How long does it take to kind of win over a locker room?
A: I think winning over a locker room speaks for itself with how you practice and how you perform on the field. If you go around talking and no action, nobody's going to get behind you. So, it's a similar thing with any locker room in any sport. I had a different path. I went to college. I got to experience the college atmosphere and learn a lot from guys around there and filter into the pros. You've just got to go perform on the field, right?
Q: What are your thoughts on a super bowl being played in the UK?
A: It would be really cool. I think a lot of Americans would have something to say about that. (Laughs) I'm going to leave that to the big dogs over there. It would be really cool. It would be a lot of fun though.
Q: When you look back on your career, did I read correctly that you didn't know what an HBCU was? You thought it was a type of a scholarship? Can you talk about that?
A: Yeah. I didn't know what an HBCU was, stood for Historical Black Colleges (and Universities). I thought it was a sponsor or something. I kind of just got thrown a ball, and I took it and ran with it. I showed up there, and I was very much a minority at the school, which didn't matter to me. I've grown up in many different places with my dad's job being in the military. I showed up there and it was just a totally different experience from what a lot of people had done in football and maybe sports. But it taught me a lot of things. Although I am grounded, it was a very grounding experience for four years there. Especially with some of the guys I played with, the backgrounds they came from, only made me appreciate everything that my family provided for me that much more over the years. It was a different four years. It was tough in certain areas, but it made me who I am right now. It was great.
Q: When they give you the nickname the (Scottish) Hammer – first off, when did you first get called that? But also, the idea of punters wanting to be versatile, not just a guy that kicks it 60, 70 yards. How did you adjust to the nickname? Was there ever any pressure to change it?
A: No, it was in high school. My coach, his name is Brian Woodburn, he's the guy that got this whole journey started. He just happened to give me that name, and you guys can call me anything. I'm going to go out there and do my job. But it stuck – I think it was Tom Pelissero had brought it up on one of the football talk shows before the draft. As soon as it came up, it kind of stuck. So, I'm just going to take it and run with it and have fun with it, right?
Q: (Safety) Xavier (McKinney) doesn't know where to do in London. Are you going to be a tour guide for him?
A: No. I mean, he could go do the touristy stuff; get on the bus and hop around all the places, pay the 40 pounds of whatever it is, tick all the boxes. I'm probably going to stay in Ware and hang out with my mom and dad. I haven't seen my dad in a long time, so it will be really good to see them.
Q: On Pro Day, is it true you hit the ball so hard you made it split? You split the ball?
A: No, actually, it's definitely been exaggerated over the time. I wish I could kick a ball, and it would explode. That would be fun. (Laughs). Basically, I bought three footballs to train for the Pro Day. I didn't know there was a whole process of conditioning the balls to make them for kickers or for quarterbacks. I was just working really hard in the offseason in Arkansas. I really don't know what happened, but in the span of two days as I'm training, one went down. And then another went down. And then the last ball that I spent my money on went down the next day. So, I was left with no balls trying to figure out, 'Hey Wilson, what's going on? Can I please get some balls?' So, that was that. Haven't done since. That was kind of how that went down.
