Arbroath’s $12m NFL star Graham Gano has gone back to his Angus roots to encourage and support military children.
Gano – whose US Navy father Mark was based at RAF Edzell when his son was born in Arbroath in April 1987 – hosted a kids football camp at Naval Air Station Pensacola.
The Carolina Panthers kicker played quarterback during the two-day Graham Gano Pensacola NAS Military Football ProCamp in Florida which was attended by 100 children whose parents are on active-duty.
The players competed in sprints and other events to win signed NFL footballs.
“A lot of these kids don’t get to see their moms or their dads for extended periods of time,” the Florida State alumna said.
“The kids also have to get used to moving around a lot and making new friends and connections and each different town.”
Gano said his experiences moving from town to town as a military kid actually helped him in the early years of his NFL career when he moved from the Baltimore Ravens to the Washington Redskins before landing with the Panthers in 2012.
“Growing up in a military family helped me to be more resilient later in life,” he said.
Gano’s father Mark was a US Navy Master Chief Petty Officer whose military career took the family from Angus to Germany, Canada and Florida.
The 29-year-old has a long line of ancestors who served in the military, including his grandfather Richard Gano, of Martinsburg, West Virginia.
Parents gathered at the camp to watch the action.
“This is awesome. It’s giving them insight into how football is played,” said Erin Cash, a Navy wife whose 8-year-old son, Jack, was on the field.
Gano took up pro football in high school and went through Florida State University, playing as a kicker and punter for the Florida State Seminoles.
During his senior year in 2008, Gano finished first for field goals made, percentage of field goals converted and 50-yard field goals made, and was the Lou Groza Award winner as the nation’s top kicker.
He signed for the Baltimore Ravens in 2009 as an undrafted free agent and has also played for the Las Vegas Locomotives and the Washington Redskins.
Gano signed a new four-year contract with the Carolina Panthers worth $12.4 million in 2014 and helped his team to the Super Bowl in February in San Francisco.
His parents met in Scotland and his sister Elaine still lives there.
RAF Edzell was home to US intelligence officers throughout the Cold War, but the Americans moved out after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
This marked the end of 37 years of US Navy operations and 85 years of RAF service.
