.jpg) Nugent with the Dallas Cowboys in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1982-03-02)March 2, 1982 (age 43) Centerville, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Centerville | ||||||||||||||||||
| College: | Ohio State (2001–2004) | ||||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2005: 2nd round, 47th pick | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
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Michael Nugent (born March 2, 1982) is an American former professionalfootballplacekicker who played in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theOhio State Buckeyes, where he won theLou Groza Award in 2004, and was twice recognized as a consensusAll-American. He was selected by theNew York Jets in the second round of the2005 NFL draft, and also played for theTampa Bay Buccaneers,Arizona Cardinals,Cincinnati Bengals,Dallas Cowboys,Chicago Bears,Oakland Raiders, andNew England Patriots during his 16-year career.
Nugent was born inCenterville, Ohio.[1] He attendedCenterville High School, and played kicker and quarterback on the Elks football team. He was a teammate of linebackerA. J. Hawk on the school's football team.[2]
As a senior kicker, he converted on five out of sevenfield goal attempts of greater than fifty yards (24 of 27 altogether), kicked a 55-yard field goal twice, and was 29 out of 29extra point attempts.[citation needed]
While attendingOhio State University, Nugent played for coachJim Tressel'sOhio State Buckeyes football team from 2001 to 2004.[3] During his four-year career at Ohio State, he broke or tied 22 school records, including most points in a career by any player at Ohio State (356).[4]
He completed 72 of 88 field goal attempts and 140 of 143 extra point attempts. He was recognized as a consensus first-teamAll-American as a sophomore in2002 and again as a unanimous All-American senior in2004,[5] and received theLou Groza Award as the nation's top college placekicker in 2004.[6]
Nugent also was part of three Bowl wins – 2003 & 2004 Fiesta Bowl / 2004 Alamo Bowl, and was part of the2002 Ohio State Buckeyes Division I National Championship team. He became the first kicker in school history to earn teammost valuable player honors.[7]
| Ohio State Buckeyes | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Class | GP | Field goals | Extra points | Pts | |||||||||||
| Lng | FGM | FGA | FG% | XPM | XPA | XP% | ||||||||||
| 2001 | FR | 11 | 44 | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 23 | 25 | 92.0 | 44 | ||||||
| 2002 | SO | 14 | 51 | 25 | 28 | 89.3 | 45 | 46 | 97.8 | 120 | ||||||
| 2003 | JR | 13 | 53 | 16 | 19 | 84.2 | 38 | 38 | 100.0 | 86 | ||||||
| 2004 | SR | 12 | 55 | 24 | 27 | 88.9 | 30 | 30 | 100.0 | 102 | ||||||
| Totals[8] | 50 | 55 | 72 | 88 | 81.8 | 136 | 139 | 97.8 | 352 | |||||||
Inducted into the Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame; September 6, 2019
Nugent was selected by theNew York Jets in the second round (47th overall) of the2005 NFL draft.[9] As a rookie, Nugent converted all 24 extra point attempts and 22 of 28 field goal attempts.[10] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.[11] He was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for December 2006.[12] In the 2006 season, he converted 34 of 35 extra point attempts and 24 of 27 field goal attempts.[13] In the 2007 season, he converted 23 of 24 extra point attempts and 29 of 36 field goal attempts.[14] During the opening game of the2008 NFL season, Nugent injured his quadriceps following an extra point. To replace Nugent the Jets signedJay Feely, who performed so well in the position that he became the Jets' starter while Nugent, who eventually recovered from his injury, was forced to stay on the bench.[15]
As anunrestricted free agent in the 2009 offseason, Nugent signed a one-year contract with theTampa Bay Buccaneers on March 4 and won the job overMatt Bryant in the preseason due to Bryant's injury. After converting just two of his first six tries (2 blocked) through four games, Nugent was released by the Buccaneers on October 5.[16]
Nugent signed with theArizona Cardinals on December 16, 2009, as a temporary replacement for the injuredNeil Rackers.[17] He was waived by the Cardinals on January 2, 2010.[18]
Nugent signed with theCincinnati Bengals on April 23, 2010.[19] He competed withDave Rayner throughout training camp and the preseason for the Bengals starting job. Nugent eventually won the competition when the Bengals released Rayner on September 4, 2010, after Nugent made 54- and 52-yard field goals in the team's final two preseason games.[20] Nugent was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for the month of September by going 8 for 8 on field goal tries in the Bengals' first three games of the season.[21] In the 2010 season, Nugent converted all 17 extra point attempts and 15 of 19 field goal attempts.[22]
In 2011, Nugent set franchise records for points (132) and field goals (33).[23][24] In the 2011 season, he converted 33 of 34 extra point attempts and 33 of 38 field goal attempts.[25] He signed a one-year contract tender with the Bengals for the 2012 season.[26] On March 10, 2013, the Bengals re-signed Nugent to a two-year deal.[27] On September 7, 2014, Nugent tied the NFL record for most field goals made in one half with five.[28]
On January 4, 2015, Nugent kicked a career-long 58-yard field goal during the AFC first-round playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts. On October 11, 2015, Nugent made a winning field goal against the Seattle Seahawks in overtime in Week 5, 2015.[29]
In Nugent's seven-year run in Cincinnati, he helped the Bengals win theAFC North Division Championship in 2013 and 2015. He also played in the Bengals 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 AFC Wild-Card Playoff games.
Nugent was released by the Bengals on December 13, 2016, after missing his sixth extra point of the season. Head coach Marvin Lewis described it as a "difficult decision" and noting that Nugent was a "tremendous teammate" and had been an integral part of the team for seven seasons.[30]
On August 1, 2017, Nugent signed with theNew York Giants where he would compete withAldrick Rosas for the starting position.[31] At the conclusion of the preseason, Nugent was cut from the Giants' roster on September 2, 2017.[32]
On October 24, 2017, Nugent was signed by theDallas Cowboys as a stand-in for injuredDan Bailey, reuniting withRich Bisaccia who was hisspecial teams coach with theTampa Bay Buccaneers.[33] He was released on November 26, after Bailey was deemed healthy from his previous groin injury.[34] He made 7 out of 9 field goals in four games.
On December 4, 2017, theChicago Bears signed Nugent to replace the injuredCairo Santos.[35] In Week 17, Nugent tied his personal record when he converted a 55-yard field goal. He finished the 2017 season converting 15 of 17 extra points and 11 of 13 field goal attempts.[36]
On August 4, 2018, Nugent signed with theOakland Raiders.[37] He was placed on injured reserve on September 26, 2018, after suffering a hip injury in Week 3.[38]
On October 3, 2019, Nugent signed with theNew England Patriots after they placedStephen Gostkowski on injured reserve.[39] He was released on October 29, 2019, after missing two kicks in a game against theCleveland Browns.[40] In four games with the Patriots, Nugent went 5-of-8 on field goals and 15-of-16 on extra points.[41]
On September 18, 2020, Nugent was signed to the Arizona Cardinals practice squad.[42] He was elevated to the active roster on December 12 and 19 for the team's weeks 14 and 15 games against theNew York Giants andPhiladelphia Eagles, and reverted to the practice squad after each game.[43][44] On December 25, 2020, Nugent was promoted to the active roster.[45] His only missed field goal came against theLos Angeles Rams in Week 17 when the kick was blocked.[46]
| Year | Team | GP | Overall FGs | PATs | Kickoffs | Points | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blk | Lng | FGA | FGM | Pct | XPA | XPM | Pct | Blk | KO | Avg | TB | Ret | Avg | ||||
| 2005 | NYJ | 16 | 1 | 49 | 28 | 22 | 78.6 | 24 | 24 | 100.0 | 0 | 63 | 59.4 | 1 | 60 | 20.8 | 90 |
| 2006 | NYJ | 16 | 0 | 54 | 27 | 24 | 88.9 | 35 | 34 | 97.1 | 0 | 74 | 60.5 | 2 | 69 | 21.2 | 106 |
| 2007 | NYJ | 16 | 0 | 50 | 36 | 29 | 80.6 | 24 | 23 | 95.8 | 1 | 65 | 61.1 | 9 | 51 | 24.9 | 110 |
| 2008 | NYJ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 0 | 3 | 52.7 | 0 | 3 | 16.3 | 2 |
| 2009 | TB | 4 | 1 | 37 | 6 | 2 | 33.3 | 6 | 6 | 100.0 | 0 | 12 | 60.4 | 2 | 9 | 21.3 | 12 |
| ARI | 2 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 8 | 8 | 100.0 | 0 | 12 | 59.3 | 0 | 12 | 20.8 | 14 | |
| 2010 | CIN | 9 | 1 | 54 | 19 | 15 | 78.9 | 17 | 17 | 100.0 | 0 | 44 | 63.3 | 7 | 34 | 26.5 | 62 |
| 2011 | CIN | 16 | 1 | 49 | 38 | 33 | 86.8 | 34 | 33 | 97.1 | 0 | 80 | 66.5 | 36 | 44 | 20.8 | 132 |
| 2012 | CIN | 12 | 0 | 55 | 23 | 19 | 82.6 | 35 | 35 | 100.0 | 0 | 65 | 66.6 | 21 | 43 | 26.0 | 92 |
| 2013 | CIN | 16 | 0 | 54 | 22 | 18 | 81.8 | 53 | 52 | 98.1 | 1 | 86 | 63.9 | 32 | 52 | 23.4 | 106 |
| 2014 | CIN | 16 | 1 | 49 | 33 | 26 | 78.8 | 39 | 39 | 100.0 | 0 | 81 | 65.6 | 37 | 44 | 25.5 | 117 |
| 2015 | CIN | 16 | 1 | 52 | 28 | 23 | 82.1 | 49 | 48 | 98.0 | 1 | 89 | 65.0 | 6 | 7 | 30.7 | 117 |
| 2016 | CIN | 13 | 0 | 47 | 29 | 23 | 79.3 | 29 | 23 | 79.3 | 0 | 63 | 63.0 | 28 | 34 | 22.9 | 92 |
| 2017 | DAL | 4 | 0 | 48 | 9 | 7 | 77.8 | 8 | 8 | 100.0 | 0 | 19 | 65.6 | 11 | 8 | 23.8 | 29 |
| CHI | 4 | 0 | 55 | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 9 | 7 | 77.8 | 1 | 17 | 59.8 | 7 | 10 | 15.7 | 19 | |
| 2018 | OAK | 3 | 0 | 52 | 6 | 6 | 100.0 | 5 | 4 | 80.0 | 1 | 14 | 61.3 | 6 | 7 | 25.7 | 22 |
| 2019 | NE | 4 | 1 | 37 | 8 | 5 | 62.5 | 16 | 15 | 93.8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 30 |
| 2020 | ARI | 4 | 1 | 43 | 8 | 7 | 87.5 | 7 | 7 | 100.0 | 0 | 19 | 63.3 | 3 | 16 | 19.0 | 28 |
| Career | 172 | 8 | 55 | 327 | 265 | 81.0 | 400 | 385 | 96.3 | 5 | 803 | 63.0 | 243 | 542 | 21.0 | 1,180 | |
