Profiling the Scots who have Played NFL and American Football

Football, rugby, and golf are among the most popular sports in Scotland with millions of people across the nation watching and playing for well over a century.

However, that’s not to say Scots haven’t influenced other games around the world, and, in fact, eleven players from the nation have appeared in America’s NFL. The global appeal of the sport, from watching the Superbowl final to making NFL picks by assessing the odds of games, means people from all over the world have contributed to the famous U.S. pursuit.

This article will profile some of the Scots who have appeared in the NFL through the years.

Jamie Gillan

The punter was born in Forres, north Scotland, and played rugby in Inverness and Edinburgh. However, it was in 2013 that he moved to Leonardtown, Maryland where his father was stationed with the Royal Air Force that he began to take part in American football in high school.

Playing college football at Arkansas Pine-Bluff, he averaged 42.2 yards based on 214 punts, and his kicking was said to be so powerful, that Gillan actually popped three NFL regulation-sized balls. 

Signing for the Cleveland Browns after being undrafted in 2019, he soon dislodged veteran punter Britton Colquitt with one kick reaching a massive 74 yards. From there, Gillan joined the Buffalo Bills before signing for the New York Giants. The Scot signed a two-year contract with the Giants in March 2023 after a series of impressive punter displays and has earned praise across the NFL.

Graham Gano

Gillan’s New York Giants team-mate Graham Gano was born in Arbroath and grew up in the United States where his father was a Navy Master Chief Petty Officer. Despite speaking with an American accent having spent his early years in Florida, Gano considers himself Scottish.

Impressing as an American footballer and track and field athlete during his high school years, Gano went on to play as a kicker and punter for the Florida State Seminoles during his time at the State University.

Joining the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2009, he joined the Washington Redskins in December of the same year and scored his first-ever field goal attempt from 46 yards against the Oakland Raiders.

Moving to the Carolina Panthers in 2012 he was part of the side that won the Pro Bowl in 2018 before switching to the Giants a year later. Kicking more than three field goals of 50 yards or more in 2020, he set a franchise record and signed a three-year contract in 2020, which will take him to his 39th Birthday.

David Ojabo

Ojabo is a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens and grew up in Aberdeen where he moved to at the age of 7 having been born in Port Harcourt in Nigeria. He remained in the UK until he turned 17 when he made the move to the United States.

Starting out in American football at the University of Michigan, it has been said he settled and enjoyed his time because the weather was similar to that of Scotland.

Ojabo was drafted in by the Ravens in 2022 and, standing at 6 foot 4 inches tall, in 2023 he recorded seven tackles, two sacks, and two forced fumbles.

Arthur Matsu

Matsu was born in Glasgow in 1904 and moved to Cleveland, Ohio as a child. Excelling as an athlete growing up, he played college football for William & Mary between 1923 and 1926 before playing professionally for the Dayton Triangles.

With a Japanese father and Scottish mother, Matsu was the first Asian-American to play in the NFL. On New Year’s Day 1930, he featured for a Virginia all-star team and as a quarterback, completed a 60-yard touchdown pass.

Chick Lang

Chick Lang was born in Fort William in October 1901 and represented the Duluth Eskimos as a tackle during the 1927 NFL season. He also played for the Chicago Cardinals in 1929 and recorded a total of five NFL appearances, starting three times.

Lawrence Tynes 

Tynes was born in Greenock and lived in Campbelltown until the age of 10 when the family moved to the United States.

Signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2001, Tynes spent two years there on the practice squad. Later appearing for the Scottish Claymores and Ottawa Renegades, he returned to Kansas and made 68 field goals from 87 attempts.

Tynes joined the New York Giants in 2007 and won the Superbowl twice during his five years there before playing his final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Scots have had an important and memorable impact on the NFL through the years, from Arthur Matsu making history to Graham Gano and Jamie Gillan appearing together for the New York Giants. 

One of the biggest sports on the planet, people around the world watch the Superbowl final and it is now an ambition for many in Scotland and beyond to play American football on the biggest stage. Thanks to these original players making the move, Scotland is sure to have more representatives in American football in the future.