Blake Thomas Gillikin (born January 21, 1998) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
punter for the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
.
High school
A former resident of
Smyrna, Georgia
Smyrna is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is located northwest of Atlanta, and is in the Interstate 285 (Georgia), inner ring of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. It is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs–Alpharetta MSA, which i ...
, Gillikin helped lead
The Westminster Schools
The Westminster Schools is a Kindergarten –12 private school in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, founded in 1951.
History
Westminster originated in 1951 as a reorganization of Atlanta's North Avenue Presbyterian School (NAPS), a girls' school a ...
to its first Class AAA Georgia State Championship since 1978 in 2015, and was rated as a five-star punter and a five-star kicker by Kohl's Kicking Camp.
College career
A four-year starter at Penn State, Gillikin is ranked No. 2 on Penn State's career punting average charts (43.03 avg.) He landed 53 career punts downed inside the opponent's ten-yard line (seven in 2016, 18 in 2017, 12 in 2018, 15 in 2019) and is the only player in program history with seven punts of 65 or more yards. Gillikin is second all time in net punting yards in school history behind Jeremy Kapinos. In 2019, Gillikin averaged 42.2 yards per punt as was selected All-Big Ten honorable mention by the conference coaches and media. Was also selected for the CoSIDA Academic All-American first-team.
Professional career
Gillikin signed with the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
as an
undrafted free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
on April 27, 2020. He was placed on
injured reserve
The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...
on September 9, 2020.
Gillikin was named the Saints starting punter for the 2021 season after the team released longtime starter
Thomas Morstead
Thomas James Morstead (born March 8, 1986) is an American football Punter (football), punter for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at SMU Mustangs football, SMU and was drafted by the New Orlean ...
in the offseason.
References
External links
New Orleans Saints bioPenn State Nittany Lions bio
1998 births
Living people
Players of American football from Atlanta
American football punters
Penn State Nittany Lions football players
New Orleans Saints players
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