Transcript: Kicker Graham Gano

Kicker Graham Gano

November 6, 2025

Q: What happened?

GANO: So, I started having some discomfort last week in my neck. I just thought it was normal, like you slept on it wrong. Then after I came in on Monday, lifted, I felt like it was pretty intense pain. Had some nerve stuff going on. Then went to the doctor and he said it was a herniated disc in my neck. It's pressing up against the spinal cord. But it was probably beginning to happen, and then just after lifting, you know, kind of let go. Nothing that I could really stop. It's the same type of stuff I've been doing lift-wise. Super frustrating. But I had an injection yesterday on my spine. Hopefully that will start helping out.

Q: That doesn't sound day-to-day, Graham. Is that?

GANO: Yeah, that's normal. That's normal. I'm hoping to kick tomorrow. But we'll see how I'm progressing.

Q: Is it painful to kick? Or does it hinder your kicking?

GANO: I haven't kicked yet.

Q: Well, when you were dealing with it on Sunday.

GANO: No, I mean it's just like when you sleep on your neck wrong, it bothers you a little bit. I've done that. I've had that happen multiple times in my career. It's fine.

Q: If this was just for you, an isolated incident the last week, I'm sure you'd be frustrated enough. But given what you said a couple of weeks ago coming back, can you describe what you're going through right now? The emotions here?

GANO: It’s unbelievably frustrating. I mean, obviously all I want to do is play football. I can't control the injuries that have happened. It's not like I've done something that is out of the ordinary, like outside the building to hurt myself or anything. So, I think that's frustrating. I hear everyone else's frustration, media, fans. I mean, shoot, ever since sports betting started happening, I get people telling me to kill myself every week. You know, because I'll hit a kick that loses them money. I'll miss a kick, and it loses them money. It was the other day somebody told me to get cancer and die. I mean, that stuff's part of it. But just playing this long, that stuff, you're used to it by now. But with that being said, I see everyone's frustration, and I'm frustrated too. I just want to play ball. I think that just constantly not being able to is tough. I'm doing everything I can to try and come back and play, and that's my hope.

Q: That stuff crosses a line that's unacceptable. I mean, you're also an NFL player. How do you deal with that? How do you not respond to that? How do you put that out of your mind?

GANO: I really don't respond. I mean, I try not to see as much as I can. Then if I start seeing that stuff, I just shut it off. Unfortunately, that's part of the game. A lot of people just send you stuff. Like, I'll get letters. I'll get fans telling it to my face. Game days, the DMs. I hear a lot of it from other guys on the team too. It's tough. I think especially nowadays when you talk about mental health, it's tough. I've gotten thick skin over the years. I think early on it really bothered you a lot. But, I mean, nobody wants to hear that stuff. I think everybody in the locker room knows that if you have something going on to talk to somebody about it. I hope that everybody in here would. Nobody wants to hear stuff like that. I just want to make the fans happy, I want to help the team win games, so not being able to do that is hard.

Q: Have you talked to people about this whole situation, like for yourself? I mean, you said there are people to talk to about or have you kept it to yourself?

GANO: I kind of keep it to myself. I mean, I'll talk to teammates if I'm struggling. But, I mean, that's what I'm saying over the years. I've been playing ball since before social media. So, I've gotten to see the whole gamut of it. I think it's tough for a lot of the younger guys, you know, if you really look at that stuff. But during the season, I normally shut those things off anyways. It doesn't stop people from seeing you in public and saying things to your face. But, I mean, I get it too. People are passionate. A lot of it I understand. But, I just want to do my best. I'm proud to be a Giant. I wish there was something I could do to not be hurt. At the end of the day, I want people to know I care. I want to play. I want to be the best I can. I want to make every kick. I want to be the best teammate I can. It’s something I care about. I wouldn't be playing this long if I didn't care about it.

Q: How does that affect the people who love you the most? Like your wife, your kids, stuff like that. They must hear that too. As you know, the NFL is dealing with a mental health tragedy right now in Dallas.

GANO: We were talking about it this morning, guys on the team, I hated hearing that news. You never want to hear anything like that from anybody. I think the biggest thing, I mean, it's not just football. It's everybody. If you have anybody that is on your mind to reach out to, do it. You never know. It could be the difference. Check on your people. I think we have great guys in this locker room. I love every player on this team. I hope that every single person would feel comfortable coming to me with something difficult. Everybody in everyday life goes through things that are hard. That's the sad reality of life. But I think it's important to have people that you can lean on. It's definitely, it's really awful what happened down there.

Q: Which day did you find out about the herniated disk?

GANO: It was early in the week. I've been doing all kinds of stuff. I'm not sure, like just medical stuff. But I can't remember what day.

Q: Monday?

GANO: I think it was one of those days early in the week. What's today? Thursday...

Q: Yeah, Thursday.

GANO: Spent a lot of time in the doctor's offices. But, yeah, I'm doing the right things to get back. Definitely feeling improvement since early in the week. So it's a positive.

Q: Do you think you could kick on Sunday?

GANO: I'm hoping. The plan is if I'm feeling well to try and kick tomorrow. My legs feel great. It's not something I'm dealing with, lower body. Just an unfortunate neck injury.

Q: I don’t know much about a hernia; I'm not a doctor. Can you injure that further if you need to kick?

GANO: I'm not sure. It's beginning to feel better. So that's more of a doctor question. I'm not sure about it.

Q: Any sense that it happens, like did you change your mechanics at all after the groin injury or anything like that?

GANO: Oh, that would have affected my neck?

Q: Yeah, I'm saying anything that's related to the other…

GANO: No, from talking to the doctor, he said it was just something that was probably happening, you know, over time. And that was just the time. I wish it would have happened in off season or after the season. I can only control what I can. Once again, I understand people's frustration. I'm frustrated, too. I care about the game and hopefully I'll be back playing soon.

Q: Can you understand if they were to just put you on IR because there have been a lot of injuries with you?

GANO: I mean, that's out of my control. That's not something I've talked about yet. I find those things out after the fact. But I hope not. I want to play. I don't think anybody on this team really wants to go on IR ever. So hopefully that doesn't happen and I'm playing soon.

Q: Given the sensitivity of the nature of the injury, any thought across your mind about it might not be worth it to play football until I feel more confident in how that feels or what I would be risking?

GANO: I think as long as the doctors and our trainers give me good information, I trust them. I truly believe we have one of the best medical staffs in the league. I've been around a lot of places. This place is great. I trust in them fully. Whatever they say, I'm going to go by.