On Seeing, A Journal. #484

The SHAPE of the NFL: Jamie Gillan

Punter, New York Giants

June 28, 2022

 

Photographed and interviewed, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in New York City.

 

 

Jamie Gillan came to the studio recently. He is 24 years of age, 6’ 1″ tall and weighs 207 lbs.

Gillan was born in Scotland and had a scholarship to play rugby. He then came to the Untied States and went to  Leonardtown High School in Maryland. UK Rugby lead to American football punting: he was awarded a college scholarship to punt for the football team at Arkansas-Pine Bluff College. He is currently the punter for the NFL’s New York Giants.

I want to thank Bardia Ghahremani, Gillan’s agent, who was instrumental in facilitating our shoot.

My goal was to create photographs that said “Punt”. I found a few  photographic solutions that I believe accurately represent his skill as a punter.

 

 

 

 

I asked my assistant Russ Heller to make a few videos demonstrating Jamie’s punting and my method for keeping equipment and studio protected. I enlisted Jamie’s NFL agent, Bardia Ghahremani, the fellow in the blue shirt, to assist us by holding the “C” stand with the net. Click the image below to watch a short clip of the punt.

 

HS and JG.

 

Great work, Jamie. I wish you good luck.

 

This is Bardia Ghahremani, Jamie Gillan’s NFL certified agent.

 

These are a few short vignettes from the extensive interview I did with Bardia who was generous, informative and fascinating:

 

“The three qualities I look for in a player are that they have to be humble, hungry, and smart. If they don’t have one of those three, I will walk away from them.”

 

“I always tell my players in the first three years of playing football, “If you do it right, you should have three-quarters of a million dollars saved. If, after three years you get a second contract, you might get 50 million dollars.”

 

“I tell my players that if they want to get their mother a house, okay, but you must pay the mortgage. It’s your house, and mom’s living in it. If mom owns it and and doesn’t pay the taxes, then the house gets taken. Everything you do has got to be under your name, and you need to take care of it because you need to protect yourself.“

 

“I tell them that if a distant uncle or a cousin, or a friend calls you for money, tell them, ‘Call my agent.’ I say,’Sorry, his money’s tied up in investments.’”

 

“I do what I do because, at the end of the day, I want these guys to be better off with me than if they weren’t with me. I love what I do.”