WARE, England — New York Giants punter Jamie Gillan — whose nickname is the "Scottish Hammer" — took an unusual route to the NFL.
Before he celebrates a homecoming when the Giants face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in London, he wanted to pay tribute to his alma mater, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
It's a historically Black university — an HBCU — and Gillan had no idea what that meant when he accepted its scholarship offer. He thought it was "a sponsor or something."
"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," said the 25-year-old Gillan, whose flowing, red locks extend below the back of his helmet.
Gillan, a native of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, moved to southern Maryland as a teenager. His father worked in anti-submarine warfare for the British armed forces. He started kicking and punting in high school where he earned his nickname.
Then came Pine Bluff.
"It was just a totally different experience from what a lot of people have done in football and maybe sports," Gillan said after the Giants practiced Friday in the English countryside north of London.
"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."
