Mike Nugent

For the American soccer player, see Mike Nugent (soccer). For the Australian Paralympic athlete, see Mike Nugent (athlete).

Mike Nugent

Nugent with the Bengals in 2011
No. 2 – Cincinnati Bengals
Position:	Placekicker
Personal information
Born:	(1982-03-02) March 2, 1982 Centerville, Ohio
Height:	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:	Centerville (OH)
College:	Ohio State
NFL draft:	2005 / round: 2 / pick: 47
Career history
New York Jets (2005–2008) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2009) Arizona Cardinals (2009) Cincinnati Bengals (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
Consensus All-American (2002, 2004) First-team All-Big Ten (2002, 2004) Lou Groza Award (2004)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 12, 2016
Field goals: 231 Field Goals Attempt: 286 FG percentage: 80.8% Field goal long: 55 yards Stats at Pro Football Reference

Michael "Mike" Nugent (born March 2, 1982) is an American football placekicker of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Ohio State University, and was twice recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft, and has also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals and the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL.

Early years

Nugent was born in Centerville, Ohio. He attended Centerville High School, and played kicker and quarterback on the football team. He was a teammate of linebacker A.J. Hawk on the school's football team. As a senior kicker, he converted on five out of seven field goal attempts of greater than fifty yards (24 of 27 altogether), kicked a 55-yard field goal twice, and was 29 out of 29 extra point attempts.

College career

While attending Ohio State University, Nugent played for coach Jim Tressel's Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 2001 to 2004. 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). He completed 72 of 88 field goal attempts and 140 of 143 extra point attempts. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a sophomore in 2002 and again as a unanimous All-American senior in 2004, and received the Lou Groza Award as the nation's top college placekicker in 2004. He also was part of the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes Division I National Championship team. He became the first kicker in Buckeyes team history to earn team most valuable player honors.

Professional career

New York Jets

Nugent was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round and played four seasons with the team.

During the opening game of the 2008 NFL season, Nugent injured his quadriceps following an extra point. To replace Nugent the Jets signed Jay 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.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

An unrestricted free agent in the 2009 offseason, Nugent signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on March 4 and won the job over Matt 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.

Nugent worked out for the Baltimore Ravens on November 10, but was not signed.

Arizona Cardinals

Nugent signed with the Arizona Cardinals on December 16, 2009 as a temporary replacement for the injured Neil Rackers. He was waived by the Cardinals on January 2, 2010.

Cincinnati Bengals

Nugent kicking off during the Bengals' training camp in 2012

Nugent signed with the Cincinnati Bengals on April 23, 2010. He competed with Dave 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. 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. In 2011, Nugent set franchise records for points (132) and field goals (33). He signed a one-year contract tender with the Bengals for the 2012 season, and on March 10, 2013, the Bengals re-signed Nugent to a two-year deal. On September 7, 2014 Nugent tied the NFL record for most field goals made in one half with 5. On Sunday, 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.

Career Statistics

Cincinnati Bengals
			Overall FG					PAT				Kickoffs
Season	Team	GP	Blk	Long	FG Att	FGM	Pct	XP Att	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
2006	NYJ	16	0	54	27	24	88.9	35	34	97.1	0	74	60.5	2	69	21.2
2007	NYJ	16	0	50	36	29	80.6	24	23	95.8	1	65	61.1	9	51	24.9
2008	NYJ	1	0	0	1	0	0.0	2	2	100.0	0	3	52.7	0	3	16.3
2009	TB	4	1	37	6	2	33.3	6	6	100.0	0	12	60.4	2	9	21.3
2009	ARI	2	0	48	2	2	100.0	8	8	100.0	0	12	59.3	0	12	20.8
2010	CIN	9	1	54	19	15	78.9	17	17	100.0	0	44	63.3	7	34	26.5
2011	CIN	16	1	49	38	33	86.8	34	33	97.1	0	80	66.5	36	44	20.8
2012	CIN	12	0	55	23	19	82.6	35	35	100.0	0	65	66.6	21	43	26.0
2013	CIN	16	0	54	22	18	81.8	53	52	98.1	1	86	63.9	32	52	23.4
2014	CIN	16	1	49	33	26	78.8	39	39	100.0	0	81	65.6	37	44	25.5
2015	CIN	16	1	52	28	23	82.1	49	48	98.0	1	89	65.0	6	7	30.7
Total		140	6	55	263	213	81.0	326	321	98.5	3	674	62.0	189	467	23.2

External links

• Cincinnati Bengals profile
• Arizona Cardinals profile