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Blake Gillikin is NFC Special Teams Player of October

Saints punter Blake Gillikin had a tremendous month, and he's finally getting recognized for it.

John Hendrix

Saints punter Blake Gillikin has been named the NFC's Special Teams Player of the Month for October, as the NFL announced on Thursday morning. Gillikin becomes the first New Orleans punter to earn the honor since Thomas Morstead in September 2019, and also the first former Penn State Nittany Lion to win a Special Teams Player of the Month award.

Blake Gillikin - NFC Special Teams Player of the Month - October 2021
Blake Gillikin - NFC Special Teams Player of the Month - October 2021

Last month, Gillikin had an average of 49.6 yards on his 17 punts, resulting in a 45.5 yard net. He had a league-high 5 punts that landed inside the 10-yard line and 4 of those were inside the 5-yard line. 

He has been instrumental to the team's success all season, and should have won a Special Teams Weekly award after the game against Washington in Week 5, but this somewhat makes up for him being overlooked. 

Gillikin received a game ball following that game against Washington, and after the road win, he said, "I try to show up every week and do my job for the team. I'd love to not punt at all, because that means we're doing well. But to have that kind of game and also get a win is great."

He's simply a player that puts a lot of time and effort into perfecting his craft, and will be key to what the Saints need to do churn out some wins with the remaining 10 games on the regular season schedule.

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John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net

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