Undrafted Rookie Jamie Gillan Told He Made the Browns While at a Bar

Nothing about punter Jamie Gillan's path to the NFL is traditional, so it is only fitting he found out he made the Cleveland Browns while at a bar with his father.  

"As soon as I got off the phone, everybody was kind of looking at me like 'What was that?'" he said when discussing his Saturday conversation with Browns general manager John Dorsey, per the Associated Press (h/t USA Today). "And I just kind of said, 'It looks like I'm playing Tennessee next week' and everybody just started going crazy, so it was really cool. It was good fun with them."

As the AP detailed, Gillan moved from Scotland to the United States as a teenager when his father was transferred while serving in the Royal Air Force. The punter, who impressed with his rugby-style tackling ability and is nicknamed "The Scottish Hammer," played collegiately at relatively unheralded Arkansas Pine-Bluff and went undrafted.

Now he will start Sunday's season opener against the Tennessee Titans.

Beating out veteran Britton Colquitt, who punted for the Denver Broncos and Browns since 2010 and was a Pro Bowl alternate last season, makes the story even more unbelievable. Colquitt won a Super Bowl in Denver and signed with the Minnesota Vikings after losing the battle to Gillan, per the AP.

Gillan turned heads during his preseason appearances.

He averaged 52 yards per kick on his three punts against the Indianapolis Colts, put three punts inside the 20-yard line against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and averaged 44.3 yards per punt against the Detroit Lions.

He will now have the chance to build on his early fame in the regular season.