Meet The Scottish Hammer, Giants punter Jamie Gillan 

LONDON — Jamie Gillan brought a present out to Giants practice this week. No one was quite sure what to do with it.

This strange white oblong thing with the weird markings was passed about awkwardly from one player to the next as they wondered if they should throw it or kick it or just laugh at it. They tried to wrap both their hands and their heads around the odd-looking thing.

“It was pretty funny seeing people catch it and looking like, ‘What on Earth is this?’ ” Gillan said.

It was, of course, a rugby ball. Gillan had received it from some neighbors of his in New Jersey who play for the U.S. men’s national team and he, in turn, brought it with him to work.

But it was more than just a quirky prop. In many ways it represented Gillan’s path to the NFL and to the Giants as their punter. It wasn’t so long ago, after all, that the footballs Gillan now kicks looked as foreign and funky to him as that rugby ball did to his teammates.

He was born and spent most of his childhood in Inverness, Scotland, before moving to Maryland in his early teens when his father, an officer in the Royal Air Force, was stationed there. After playing rugby all his life he made the transition to American football once he realized there was a position in that sport which could utilize his skillset.

That quickly led to a nickname that has stuck with him since his high school coach Brian Woodburn first bestowed it upon him and his booming kicks: The Scottish Hammer.

On Sunday, Gillan will play in his 49th career NFL game when the Giants face the Packers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

It’s about as close to a home game as he has ever had.

“It’s going to be great,” he said, noting that his parents and sister would be in attendance. “Great seeing some family and stuff.”

Because of his nearby roots, many of the Giants players have been asking him for advice about this trip. Everything from dining recommendations to what the stadium will be like on Sunday.

“I know a lot of guys watched Ted Lasso,” Gillan said, laughing. “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.”

Even after he started kicking footballs in high school and it seemed as if he had a real talent for it, Gillan’s path to the NFL wasn’t a direct one. He enrolled to play at Arkansas-Pine Bluff after accepting a scholarship offer via Facebook completely unaware he would be attending a school that is a member of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

“I thought HBCU was a sponsor or something,” he said of seeing that acronym. “But 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 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. It was a very grounding experience for four years there … It was tough in certain areas, but it made me who I am right now.”

After college he wanted to take the next step. That meant training for his NFL pro day.

This is where the legend of the Scottish Hammer really began to grow. There were legends that he owned such a powerful leg he destroyed three footballs just by kicking them.

Not entirely true, Gillan says now. He did have three NFL footballs that he bought himself to practice and yes, they did break apart, but it was only because Gillan had not conditioned the leather properly and was booting them right out of the box.

“I wish I could kick a ball and it would explode,” he said. “That would be fun.”

Gillan signed with the Browns as an undrafted rookie in 2019 and won the starting job in Cleveland. He was waived at the end of the 2021 season, spent some time on the Bills’ practice squad where he caught the eye of soon-to-be Giants general manager Joe Schoen, and signed with the Giants in February.

Since then he’s been blasting footballs all around the team’s facility. Sometimes too much so.

Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said the Giants have been working with Gillan to refine his kicks rather than just launch them as far as he can. His 19 punts this season have averaged 51 yards, fourth best in the league, but his net is 41.3, which is 19th best. His three touchbacks don’t help that discrepancy. They’d prefer a little less Hammer. It’s tricky.

“That’s something he’s going to always have to deal with because he has such a strong leg,” McGaughey said. “He’s getting better. That’s all you can ask for as a coach. Just keep working at it, keep trying to control the power. It’s encouraging, for sure.”

“I just take it one day at a time,” Gillan said of his growth and understanding of punting nuance. “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.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.