Scots have been responsible for many major contributions to the American way of life. Television, golf, the telephone, the US navy, penicillin and President Bush’s terriers, Barney and Beezie, spring to mind. Now yet another can be added to the Caledonian role of honor: Lawrence Tynes. The Scots-born kicker has just played a vital part in Sunday’s victory of the New York Giants over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
"It’s just unbelievable," said the 29-year-old Tynes after his team’s surprise 17-14 victory over the favorites. "It shows the character of this football team – we were down with two minutes to go."
One of three sons of an American Navy Seal father and a Scottish mother, Maggie, he moved with his family at the age of 10 to Milton, Florida.
Tynes is not the first Scots-born player to have made it in the NFL but is likely to become the most famous. He only took over the place-kicking duties for the Giants last year and scored the vital first and last points in his team’s historic victory in Phoenix.
He has already used his fame and his degree in criminal justice from Troy state university to draw attention to the plight of his brother, Mark, who is serving a 27-year jail sentence in a penitentiary in Arkansas for marijuana trafficking. Tynes has said that a sentence of around 10 years might have been acceptable.
The Scottish diaspora in the US has always been discreet, compared with the Irish or Italians. But they now have their own Tartan Day parade in New York in April.
This year Tynes has the task of leading hundreds of pipers and a few West Highland terriers up Sixth Avenue.