On the 11th of September 1297, forces gathered near Stirling Bridge in Scotland. Forces representing England camped on one side and forces representing Scotland on the other. Scotland was fighting for their freedom from English oppression and this battle would prove to be legendary.
The Scots were outmanned by the English. It was roughly 3 Englishmen for every 2 Scots. The numbers were not in their favor, but Scotland had a ringer that day. William Wallace was the man who led the forces of Scotland. You may remember Wallace as being portrayed by Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart. That movie took some creative liberties, but the real story is even better.
The story goes, right before the battle, William Wallace took an American football, put it on a tee, and kicked it over Stirling Bridge. The ball hit John de Warrenne, the leader of the English forces, in the head and knocked him out. Without a leader, the Scots easily won the battle and it cemented William Wallace’s place in history.
Wallace would eventually be killed by the English after his capture at the Battle of Falkirk. Wallace’s legacy, would be forever known as “The Kick” in Scottish lore. If you visit Stirling Bridge today, you’ll find that there are engravings showing Wallace placekicking the ball over the bridge, it’s truly quite spectacular.
Fast forward a little over 700 years and a direct descendant of William Wallace is now attempting to carry on the family tradition of kicking footballs. Jamie Gillan has convinced the Browns coaching staff to let him kick some field goals. He hit a 60-yard field goal in practice yesterday, just as his ancestor did in Scotland so many years ago.
With this, a new competitor has entered the Browns kicking battle and his ability to boot the long ball, may help him make a roster spot. It was already going to be difficult as a punter, but Cleveland may have found their man. He has the bloodline to do it as illustrated by the completely factual history presented above.
If the Browns want to conquer the descendants of England, the New England Patriots, it may help to have Gillan kick a ball across the sidelines to take out a certain head coach…
