Sports

New York Giants kicker Graham Gano has been battling injuries the past three seasons. The one-time Pro Bowler is currently dealing with a herniated disk in his back that could sideline him again. 

Gano is fed up with his body not cooperating with his job. He's frustrated and hears others' frustration — all of it, including death threats from sports bettors, he told reporters Thursday.

"I hear everyone else's frustration: media, fans," said Gano, who missed a 45-yard field goal before halftime last weekend during a 34-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

"I mean, shoot, every since sports betting started to happen, I get people telling me to kill myself every week. 'Cause I'll hit a kick that loses them money. I'll miss a kick, and it loses them money."

Gano added, via SNY: "It was the other day that somebody told me to get cancer and die. So I mean that stuff's part of it. But just playing this long, that stuff, you're used to it by now. With that being said, I see everyone's frustration, and I'm frustrated, too. I just want to play ball, and I think that just constantly not being able to is tough. But [I'm] doing everything I can to try to come back and play, and that's my hope."

Gano, 38, is in his sixth season with the Giants and his 17th in the NFL. The former undrafted free agent out of Florida State made the Pro Bowl with the Carolina Panthers in 2017. He's posted a field goal percentage of at least 81.8% in all but one of his Giants campaigns, but he hasn't played a full 17 games since the 2022 season.

Gano was diagnosed with his herniated disk earlier this week. Last week, he felt some discomfort, which he theorized at the time was from sleeping awkwardly, but he still kicked against the 49ers, as reported by ESPN.

Gano said Thursday that the issue was made worse by a weight lifting session on Monday, per ESPN. After missing practice Wednesday and Thursday, his game status is in jeopardy for a Week 10 matchup with the Chicago Bears.

If Gano can't go Sunday, former Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo will fill in. While Gano was on injured reserve with a groin injury earlier this season, New York turned to Jude McAtamney, who infamously missed a pair of extra points during a 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 7 that featured a Giants fourth-quarter collapse for the ages. McAtamney was subsequently waived after shouldering his fair share of criticism.

"I really don't respond," Gano said of social media vitriol Thursday, via ESPN. "I try not to see as much as I can. If I start seeing that stuff, I just shut it off. Unfortunately, that is part of the game. A lot of people will send you stuff like that. 

"I'll get letters, I'll get fans telling me that stuff to my face game days, the DMs. I hear a lot of it from other guys on the team, too. It's tough. Especially nowadays [with] mental health. It's tough but I've gotten thick skin over the years. Early on it really bothered you a lot."

Gano's comments about mental health come on the same day the NFL world mourned the death of Dallas Cowboys defensive endMarshawn Kneeland, who Frisco police believe died "from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound."

Paras Griffin via Getty Images

Former NFL player Antonio Brown was extradited from Dubai on an attempted murder with a firearm charge, according to Grethel Aguila of the Miami Herald.

Brown was booked in the Essex County jail in New Jersey on Thursday and will be transported to Miami. He is set to face trial in connection to an incident in May at influencer Adin Ross's boxing event.

The warrant, obtained by the Washington Post, called for Brown to post a $10,000 bond and remain under house arrest until trial. Brown never turned himself in.

Brown had been briefly detained in May after witnesses allegedly saw him with a gun. He can be seen fighting multiple people in a video before running with a gun in his hand. Gunshots allegedly went off shortly after.

Brown then released a statement on social media following that incident:

"Police temporarily detained me until they received my side of the story and then released me. I WENT HOME THAT NIGHT AND WAS NOT ARRESTED,” Brown wrote. 

He also posted that he had been “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me."

Brown allegedly has a history with the victims, per the Herald. One of them, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, reportedly said he has known Brown since 2022. Nantambu claims that Brown did not return a pendant that he had let him wear at a Floyd Mayweather event in Dubai. Nantambu was later arrested for 40 days after Brown claimed that he stole $3 million in jewelry from him. Nantambu also claims that one of the gunshots grazed his neck during the incident that led to Brown's arrest.

Brown last played in the NFL in 2021 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Before his stint with the Buccaneers, Brown played nine seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers and one game for the New England Patriots after spending the offseason with the Oakland Raiders.

This is just the latest of the former 7-time Pro Bowler's multiple off-field issues, which included walking off the field before halftime against the Jets in 2022.