Browns bettor Jamie Gillan, eager to play his first NFL game at FirstEnergy: "I'm sure it'll be great"

BEREA, Ohio – Scottish-born rugby player beats Britton Colquitt as Browns pioneer?

When monkeys fly.

Jamie Gillan, the new Browns rookie, was at the Flying Monkey Pub in the Tremont area of ​​Cleveland on Saturday afternoon when he found out he had won the job.

"I was with my father," he said Monday. "I was trying not to stay at home and turn my thumbs. We are sitting at the bar and hanging out and I have received the call from Mr. [John] Dorsey. He said, "Get ready for Tennessee."

As soon as he hung up, all his new friends at the pub – those who recognized his long hair and the Scottish accent as he was entering – asked him the result on a difficult day.

"I kind of said," It looks like I'm playing Tennessee next week, "and everyone started to go crazy," said Gillan. "It was very cool."

Gillan, 22, tried to buy a ball for the house.

"Instead, it went the other way," he said.

His father, Craig, a member of the Scottish Royal Air Force and transferred to Leonardtown, Maryland – John Dorsey's hometown – while Gillan was in high school, could not believe the news.

"He was on the moon," said Gillan. "I had the good call when one of my best friends entered the room. It was really fun. "

Have the customers, his new best friends, tried to convince him to spend more time outdoors?

"They must not convince me," he says with a smile. "I like this place a lot. It was awesome, really great people there. Really nice people, down to earth and it was really fun there. ''

It's also a place Gillan will never forget.

"It's one of those little places in my heart that you go from time to time because, yes, I got the phone call there, it was cool," he says.

Has he ever imagined being embraced by the city?

"Oh no, I did not do it," he says. "I did not think it would happen if people recognized me, but it's really cool."

Where would he be right now if his father had not been transferred to Leonardtown, where Gillan began kicking and beating as a senior in high school after watching the team kicker hit the floor? back of an offensive lineman on an extra point a day.

"We have already talked about it," he said. "I have no idea I was in boarding at the time.If we had not moved to Maryland, I think I would have stayed in boarding school, would have graduated and continued to play rugby, my goal was to play professional rugby, so hopefully somewhere in that direction life is weird, is not it?

Weird will fight to play at FirstEnergy Stadium Sunday against the Titans in front of more than 67,000 people, which is far from the hundred who saw him playing rugby in Heidelberg, Scotland.

"Nothing comparable to that," he said. "I'm sure it'll be bumpin". I have never experienced a season game before. It was fun in pre-season. It's supposed to be sold, right? It should be very amusing.

Was there a turning point when Gillan, who toured Arkansas Pine-Bluff by posting a video on their highlights page, knew that he had won the job?

"Not at all, to be honest," he said. "Colquitt is a fantastic bettor and he's been in the NFL for 10 years … we got along really well and it was really fun with him. He helped me a lot and we worked well together and we were very competitive. "

Head coach Freddie Kitchens sometimes did not seem to be selling for Gillan and seemed to be leaning in favor of the seasoned veteran, partly because of his participation. But he returned after the last two preseason games, including the last Gillan played four times with Austin Seibert.

"It has improved," said Kitchens. "When he started in the spring he had never played before, so of course there was a quick apprenticeship and then, once you get home, there must be a continuous improvement in the improvement. in this area because this is part of it. "

Gillan, signed as a free agent unsigned by the Browns in May, knew that he had to be Steady Eddy for Seibert and Greg Joseph, who were locked in a duel of kicks.

"It's huge," he said. "I did not want to be the reason Austin or Greg struggled. I just worked very hard … We have the JUGS bass machines here, which we never had in Arkansas, so it was pretty cool to shoot footballs and get as many reps as possible. So, everything will continue to come together.

Gillan, a training enthusiast who has always been built as a rugby player and who has made two tackles in the Lions game, plays with first-timer kicker Austin Seibert, choosing the fifth round of the Browns in Oklahoma, in as duo of tomorrow. Since they started living together in OTAs, they dreamed of this moment.

"It's really a different trip from what I did," said Seibert. "For me, I will be stomping since I was seven years old. Jamie jumped in when he was in high school. He just does it for fun. I've always dreamed of playing at the university, in the NFL.

"And Jamie just wanted to get a scholarship to go to school, his education was paid and he turns out he's good, so he was recruited here, he's a little more laid back where I'm like "Let us roll." It's good to have both sides. "

Gillan's relaxed rugby atmosphere is the perfect complement to Seibert's perfectionism. It's hard to be around Gillan and not have fun soon.

"Certainly coming from Scotland and everyone, the focus was new when I arrived here," said Seibert. "It was just like I was saying," You beat a football and you come from Scotland? "I never really heard about it. Basically, he is a rugby player who hits football pretty well, but he is now a player in the National Football League. So it's really cool to see the cultural aspect of this difference. I have never had a room with a Scottish for two months, three months. "

If the Flying Monkey decides one day to change brands, the Scottish Hammer should be launched.