David Newton, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Graham Gano auditions NASCAR's Austin Dillon for holder job ... sort of

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers place-kicker Graham Gano is getting desperate to find a replacement for long-time holder Brad Nortman.

On Wednesday, he gave Sprint Cup driver Austin Dillon a tryout.

OK, it was just a promotional gimmick that brought these two together at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But Gano trusted the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing car enough that he let him hold in the infield as he kicked field goals up to about 45 yards on a makeshift goal post.

Dillon was as surprised as anybody that Gano let him wear the Super Bowl cleats.

"It would be hard for me to take off my championship suit and say, ‘Here, you can wear this,' " said the 2013 Nationwide Series champion. "He was just really open and wanting to have fun."

As a holder, Dillon didn't do too badly. He didn't pull a "Charlie Brown" that caused a big crash like the ones he -- for the most part -- avoided on Sunday at Talladega Speedway.

"He got better as he went on," Gano said. "We thought we were going to have a little more time to warm up. He was thrown right into it. Once I told him what we were looking for, he did a good job."

For the past four years Nortman has done all of the holding for Gano. That ended when Nortman, also Carolina's punter, signed a four-year deal with Jacksonville in March.

So Gano really is auditioning for a new holder, just as the Panthers are auditioning for a new punter.

Gano brought the top two candidates -- Swayze Waters and Michael Palardy -- with him to CMS. Waters doesn't have much holding experience, having spent the past four seasons as a placekicker and punter for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

Palardy was in camp with the Oakland Raiders in 2014 and Rams in 2015. He punted in one game for the Argonauts as an injury replacement for Waters.

There's a chance the Panthers will bring in another punter to compete for Nortman's job. They also could give other players on the roster a shot at holding.

Maybe it's time to give backup quarterback Derek Anderson a try.

Gano isn't worried.

"If you look back when I first signed with the team, we had two days of kicking before we played Monday night against the Eagles," he said. "After that game we were able to click and get going.

"We have the benefit of Swazye and Michael both here. We have the offseason to learn things. I think it's going to be fine. It's not something I'm even concerned about."

Gano was more worried on Wednesday about kicking on the grass infield of a racetrack with a driver as his holder.

"I was very smart with it," he said. "We're preparing for the season, but that was a lot of fun."

And no, Dillon isn't interested in the job. He's happy sitting in the stands as a spectator.

"I can't imagine being able to get your heart rate down enough to hold the ball and just relax," the driver who deals with speeds of 200 mph in door-to-door traffic. "It's got to be an intense feeling in front of people that are die-hards, like myself.

"Now that I've done this, I'll take a different perspective when he's out there to kick. When I'm up there in the stands watching him kick, I'm going to be praying for him every time he kicks."

^ Back to Top ^