| Profile | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Punter | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1996-09-18)September 18, 1996 (age 29) Warwick, Rhode Island, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 202 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | East Greenwich (RI) | ||||||||||||
| College | Syracuse | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2021: undrafted | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 4, 2023 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Nolan Joseph Cooney (born September 18, 1996) is an American professionalfootballpunter. He playedcollege football atSyracuse and has been a member of theNew Orleans Saints,Arizona Cardinals andIndianapolis Colts.
Cooney was born on September 18, 1996.[1] He grew up inEast Greenwich, Rhode Island, and attendedEast Greenwich High School.[2] There, he playedbasketball,baseball andsoccer.[3] He playedgoalkeeper in soccer and that gave him the idea to playfootball as apunter.[3] As ajunior, he was diagnosed withtesticular cancer.[3] While undergoingchemotherapy treatment, Cooney watchedYouTube videos about punters to learn more about how to play the position.[3] He recovered as asenior, but was unable to play football as his school did not allow one to play both football and soccer at the same time.[3] After graduating from there, he signed up for apostgraduate year atBridgton Academy, where he played one season at punter.[3]
Cooney did not receive any scholarship offers after his season at Bridgton, but was given a chance to make theSyracuse University football team as awalk-on.[3] He made the team, but did not play in his first two years (2016, 2017).[2] He saw his first collegiate action in 2018, serving as theholder forfield goals andextra points.[2] Cooney continued in this role for the 2019 season, hisjunior year.[2]
As a fifth-yearsenior in 2020, Cooney received his first action as Syracuse punter.[4] He recorded 74 punts averaging 44.8 yards, leading all of theFBS, and had 24 kicks downed inside the 20 compared to just threetouchbacks.[4] Cooney was an honorable mentionAll-American according toPro Football Focus (PFF) and was a third-team all-conference selection.[2] He was also named the winner of theBrian Piccolo Award, given to those the "most courageous player in the league," for overcoming his battle with cancer in high school.[2]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+1⁄4 in (1.89 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | 31+3⁄4 in (0.81 m) | 9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) | |||||||||
| All values fromPro Day[5] | ||||||||||||
After going unselected in the2021 NFL draft, Cooney was signed by theNew Orleans Saints as anundrafted free agent.[4][6] He was waived during the roster cuts period in August.[7]
In January 2022, after spending the entirety of the2021 season as afree agent, Cooney was signed to a future contract by theArizona Cardinals.[8] He was released on August 23.[9]
Shortly after being released by Arizona, Cooney had a tryout with theIndianapolis Colts.[10] Although not signed at first, Cooney was brought to the Colts'practice squad on October 25, 2022, following a poor performance by the team's punterMatt Haack.[11] After Haack performed better in the following game, Cooney was released on October 31.[12]
AfterAndy Lee was ruled questionable with an illness in Week 9, Cooney was re-signed by the Arizona Cardinals on November 5 to the practice squad and elevated to the active roster for their match with theSeattle Seahawks.[13] He was released on November 9.[14] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 11, 2023.[15] He made the final roster by winning the position battle over Matt Haack.[16] On October 3, after four games played, in which he recorded a total of 13 punts for 592 yards (a 45.5 average), he was released in favor ofBlake Gillikin.[17][18][19]
On August 12, 2024, Cooney signed with theTampa Bay Buccaneers.[20] He was waived on August 27.[21]
