Man who gets a £1m kick out of his job
Scot who’s going for glory in America’s Superbowl 50
IT’S as American as apple pie or the 4th of July.
But as Superbowl 50 kicks off tomorrow night, keep an eye out for one Scotsman proudly flying the flag for his native country.
Graham Gano is the Carolina Panthers’ star kicker and will proudly represent Scotland tomorrow as his team take on the Denver Broncos.
The 28-year- old was born in Dundee when his father Mark was stationed at RAF Edzell, near Brechin, Angus, with the United States Navy. After spending his first three years in Arbroath, the family moved to Canada. They returned to Arbroath when Gano was six, but three years later moved across the Atlantic again, this time to Florida. His sister Elaine still lives in Scotland.
Gano initially dreamed of playing football for Scotland at Hampden but was eventually drawn to the gridiron game when he settled in the United States.
Although he now has barely a trace of his Scottish accent, he hopes to visit Scotland after the Superbowl – hopefully sporting a winners’ ring.
Gano, who could easily make £1million on the back of a Superbowl win, said: ‘My aunt and uncle came and visited this past year. They travel a lot so I’ve got to see them quite a few times.
‘I haven’t been back in a while. I want to take my wife Brittany and my kids back and see my family. I’ve got my sister, aunt and uncle, cousins and nieces in Scotland. It will be good to get back and maybe pick my accent up again.
‘It will be hard to travel all the way with two small kids but it will be great to be able to go back to where I was born.’
Gano’s NFL career began in 2009 when he joined the Baltimore Ravens, before moving to the Panthers in 2012 following a spell with the Washington Redskins.
Should the Panthers – who are favourites to win, having only lost one match all season – succeed in beating the Broncos, Gano will follow in the footsteps of fellow Scottish kicker Lawrence Tynes, who helped the New York Giants to two Superbowl titles in 2007 and 2011.
In the Superbowl, ‘foreign’ stars carry the flag of their home country as the US national anthem is played before the game – and a proud Gano will hold the Saltire aloft tomorrow.