casey kreiter

New York Giants lose starting kicker and punter to COVID-19 list

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New York Giants, Graham Gano

The New York Giants have been lucky this season in dealing with a pandemic. While the team hasn’t come out without any problems at all, they’ve mostly avoided having players and staff get sick and the COVID-19 list hasn’t seen much use by the team. However, that’s starting to change as the Giants’ special teams unit has been hit hard recently and could see big changes for their week 12 game against the Bengals.

Starting kicker Graham Gano ended up on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week and it remains to be seen whether he’ll be ready in time to make a return against the Bengals. As if that’s not bad on its own, the Giants also lose starting punter Riley Dixon to the list. He was placed on it Wednesday along with long snapper Casey Kreiter.

However, there is no guarantee that these players actually tested positive. It’s possible for players to end up on the list simply because they were around contacts who did, or were at higher risk for infection.

The team didn’t report new positive tests on Wednesday when Dixon and Kreiter were placed on the reserve list.

The Giants have brought in alternative option Ryan Santoso from the practice squad to fill in for these two players. Santoso is a dual kicker and punter and played in three games last season for the Titans. However, he was waived by the team in December and joined the Giants during September of this year.

Graham Gano definitely did test positive for the virus, unlike Dixon and Kreiter, so it remains to be seen if all three players will be ready to go against Cincinnati. If not, the Giants might just have a relative unknown player kicking their big field goals for them.

Listen to Episode 13 of Fireside Giants: Interview with New York Giants long snapper Casey Kreiter

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New York Giants, Casey Kreiter

Enjoy an interview with New York Giants long snapper, Casey Kreiter, on the Fireside Giants podcast!

Monday was an exciting day for the Fireside Giants gang, as we had the privilege of interview New York Giants long snapper Casey Kreiter, who’s coming from the Denver Broncos. Kreiter was most recently a Pro Bowl player in 2018 and has experience with punter Riley Dixon. He has familiarity with Aldrick Rosas from the Pro Bowl and is excited to get to meet Nate Ebner and head coach Joe Judge.

Alex, Anthony, and Mike dive into his personal life, what he likes to do in his spare time, great stories from the past, including his interactions with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, watching Saquon Barkley bulldoze a safety in college, and much more.

As our first interview with a professional athlete on the Fireside Giants podcast, this is a significant milestone for the gang, and many more are to come. Keep an eye on this upcoming Thursday for another starting player on the Giants! We will also be unveiling a live-streaming option for the podcast for Empire Sports Media members, which will allow access to real-time Q and As and a chat-room experience.

However, in the latest episode, there’s plenty of fantastic material to consume — it’s always nice to see the personal side of athletes. Casey is a former high school science teacher and plans to return to that profession after he’s finished in the NFL. Hopefully, he can stick with the Giants for the foreseeable future and be a part of a Super Bowl team. He understands that replacing Zak DeOssie is difficult, but he desires to establish his own legacy within Giants nation and lead us to victories. He expresses how fragile being a long-snapper is, and being 100% perfect at all times is a necessity when it comes to job security.