Dan Giancola
Encyclopedia
Dan Giancola is a former placekicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...

 in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

.

Professional career

Giancola made his CFL debut with the Toronto Argonauts
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

 during the 1999 CFL season
1999 CFL season
-1999 CFL Awards:*CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Danny McManus , Hamilton Tiger-Cats*CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Mike O'Shea , Toronto Argonauts*CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Calvin Tiggle , Hamilton Tiger-Cats...

 as a 29-year-old rookie. In his rookie season, Giancola kicked 48 field goals while going 28 for 28 on extra point convert
Convert
The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...

s.

In 2000, Giancola tried out with the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 but was cut during training camp. Soonafter, the Argonauts, who still owned his CFL rights, traded him to the BC Lions
BC Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League . Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954...

 in exchange for defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...

 Marcello Simmons
Marcello Simmons
Marcello Muhammad Simmons is a former defensive back in the National Football League and the Canadian Football League.-College career:...

 and defensive tackle Tom Hipsz. Giancola would go on to win a Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...

 Championship with the Lions.

In 2001, Giancola re-signed with the Toronto Argonauts. In his second tenure with the Argonauts, Giancola made 25 field goals. The team would go on to miss the playoffs.

In 2002, Giancola was drafted by the Ottawa Renegades
Ottawa Renegades
Ottawa Renegades was the most recent name of a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario founded in 2002, seven years after the storied Ottawa Rough Riders folded...

 during their expansion draft. During that season, Giancola suffered what was believed to be a groin injury and was released by the Renegades while injured. He filed a grievance against the Renegades and won.

In 2003, Giancola signed with the Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...

 where his injury was later discovered to have been a hernia
Hernia
A hernia is the protrusion of an organ or the fascia of an organ through the wall of the cavity that normally contains it. A hiatal hernia occurs when the stomach protrudes into the mediastinum through the esophageal opening in the diaphragm....

. Giancola later joined the Argonauts during the latter part of the 2003 CFL season
2003 CFL season
The 2003 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 50th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 46th Canadian Football League season.-CFL News in 2003:...

.

In 2004, Giancola, was re-acquired by the Argonauts late in the season after an injury to incumbent kicker Noel Prefontaine
Noel Prefontaine
Noel Prefontaine is a professional Canadian football punter / kicker with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.- Early years :...

. Giancola's only game played during this tenure with the Argonauts occurred in the regular season finale against the Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...

. The Argonauts would go on to win the Grey Cup that season. In what would ultimately be his last tenure with the Argonauts, he would end up playing the second most career games as their kicker during the 2000s.

On May 7, 2009, Giancola was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...

, five years after his last CFL stint. Unfortunately, Giancola suffered a groin injury that kept him out for most of training camp. On June 19, 2009, he was released by the team during training camp.

Personal life

At the time Giancola became a kicker in the CFL, Giancola worked as a grocery store clerk.
As of 2011, Giancola is a personal trainer
Personal trainer
A personal trainer is a fitness professional involved in exercise prescription and instruction. They motivate clients by setting goals and providing feedback and accountability to clients. Trainers also measure their client's strengths and weaknesses with fitness assessments...

 at an Anytime Fitness Gym in St.Catharines, Ontario.
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