Cleveland Browns believe in the Scottish Hammer, Jamie Gillan
By Randy Gurzi
Cleveland Browns special teams coach Mike Priefer spoke highly of Jamie Gillan, The Scottish Hammer, and makes it sound as though he has a shot to win the punting job in 2019
As far as punting families in the NFL go, Britton Colquitt is royalty. The veteran Cleveland Browns punter has kicking in his bloodlines. His father, Craig Colquitt, brother, Dustin Colquitt, and uncle, Jimmy Colquitt, all punted in the NFL.
As for Britton, he’s been in the league since 2009 and has become one of the more reliable punters in the NFL. He’s also one of the more expensive as he’s set to earn $2.7 million this season according to OverTheCap.com. Also according to that website, the team could save all that, with no dead money, by releasing the 34-year old this season.
Making that more enticing for the team is the presence of The Scottish Hammer, Jamie Gillan. An undrafted rookie out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Gillan is popular due to his awesome nickname but also turns heads with his powerful leg.
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He’s also got the attention of special teams coach Mike Preifer who says this is a real competition and that he’s not really into bringing players on just to be “camp legs.”
"“We would not have brought [Gillan] in – it is going to be a competition for the punting, holding for those guys for both kickers. I’m not really into camp legs. I know Britton is an older punter, but Britton was pushed last year and he was up for the challenge. I’m sure he’ll be up for it again this year.” — Priefer said via Josh Edwards of 247 Sports"
The good news for Colquitt is that this could be a competition based mainly on their talent rather than his paycheck. While cutting him saves a lot of money, the team isn’t in a situation where they have to make any cap room. That means if he’s the better player, he likely wins the job regardless of salary cap ramifications.
However, Gillan won’t make it easy. He has some consistency issues but a lot of that was due to the rugby-style kicking he had to do at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Not only that, but he was also the kick off specialist and handled field goals as well.
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Now with Cleveland, The Scottish Hammer can focus solely on punting the ball which should help him improve quickly. Usually, kickers aren’t the most exciting players to watch, but the battle between Colquitt and Gillan could be one of the more interesting storylines throughout the preseason.