No. 8, 6, 11 | |||||||||
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Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Born: | Dublin, Ireland | 18 January 1953||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||
Weight: | 208 lb (94 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
College: | Auburn | ||||||||
NFL draft: | 1977 / Round: 5 / Pick: 127 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Cornelius Joseph Connor Dennis "Neil" O'Donoghue (born 18 January 1953) is a former American football placekicker. He played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1985 with the Buffalo Bills, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the St. Louis Cardinals. At 6'6", he is the tallest kicker in NFL history. From 1987 to 2023, when Daniel Whelan was selected as punter for the Green Bay Packers, O'Donoghue was the most recent Irish-born American to have played in the NFL. [1]
Growing up in Clondalkin, his father Michael played for the Ireland national field hockey team.
Playing for Round Towers GAA (Clondalkin), he was described as one of the best juvenile players they produced. He played U13 Football at the age of eight and won an U13 League Final against St Pats Palmerstown in 1965.
O'Donoghue made his League of Ireland debut for Shamrock Rovers as a replacement for Damien Richardson at Sligo Rovers on 17 October 1971. In his second League game he scored his first goal at Glenmalure Park against Limerick on 31 October. He made a total of 16 appearances including two each in the Texaco Cup and the FAI Cup scoring 3 goals. [2] [3]
In February 1978 he returned home at the end of the American football season to play for Shelbourne [4]
O'Donoghue first went to the United States to play soccer for Saint Bernard College. [5] [6] He was awarded the first soccer scholarship to the States given to an Irish person. When the school's soccer program closed, he transferred to Auburn University and became the starting placekicker, after watching only three American football games in his life, for the Auburn Tigers football team. O'Donoghue's 57-yard field goal against Tennessee in 1976 still remains tied for the record for the longest field goal in Auburn history. He received All-American honors in 1976. [7]
O'Donoghue was selected in the fifth round of the 1977 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills, but was cut five games into the 1977 season after making only two of six field goal attempts. After lengthy immigration problems, he was picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1978. The Bucs had joined the league in 1976 and had compiled a 2–26 record in their first two years. O'Donoghue played for two years with the Bucs helping them improve to a 15–17 by converting 55 of 64 point after touchdown attempts and 24 of 43 field goals attempts.
In 1980 O'Donoghue replaced Steve Little as the kicker for the St. Louis Cardinals. [8] He missed a potential game-winning kick against the Washington Redskins in the last game of the 1984 season that would have sent his Cardinals to the playoffs, and missed three field goal attempts in overtime of a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants during the 1983 season, resulting in a 20–20 tie.
Even with a host of missed attempts, in 1984 O'Donoghue still tied the long-standing Cardinals record for most points in a season, which at the time was 117. In his NFL career, he had a field goal success rate of 59.3%. [9]
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(December 2019) |
After the NFL, O'Donoghue sold real estate for a few years, then got into car sales. He is currently living in Clearwater, Florida and is a car salesman. [10]
O'Donoghue was the only member of his family to emigrate to the US and become an American Citizen. His older brother, Coli, is a partner at an architectural firm based out of Dublin, Ireland.
O'Donoghue married his first wife, Laura, while playing for Tampa Bay. They lived in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, and had one daughter, Daeja. They divorced in the late 80s.
He remarried shortly after to his second and current wife, Monica, and currently reside in Clearwater, Florida. They have two children, Neil and Courtney.
Michael John Vanderjagt is a Canadian former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with the Indianapolis Colts. He served as the Colts' placekicker from 1998 to 2005 and was a member of the Dallas Cowboys during his final NFL season in 2006. Vanderjagt also played for four seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL), where he spent three seasons with the Toronto Argonauts and one with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Thomas James Feely is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. He started his playing career as a placekicker with the Florida Bobcats in the Arena Football League (AFL) as a free agent in 1999 before playing for several National Football League (NFL) teams. Since his retirement, Feely has worked as a reporter and analyst for CBS/Turner Sports.
Guillermo C. "Bill" Gramatica is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of South Florida. Gramatica is perhaps best known for tearing a knee ligament in a celebratory leap in 2001.
Michael Nugent is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he won the Lou Groza Award in 2004, and was twice recognized as a consensus All-American. He was selected by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2005 NFL draft, and also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Arizona Cardinals, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Dallas Cowboys, the Chicago Bears, the Oakland Raiders, and the New England Patriots during his 16-year career.
John Michael Carney is an American former professional football kicker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 1987.
Rian David Lindell is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college football at Washington State.
Neil William "Rickety" Rackers is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini. Rackers was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft, and also played for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, and Washington Redskins.
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James Martin Michael Hanifan was an American professional football player and coach. He served as the head coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1980 to 1985 and as interim head coach for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons for four games in 1989, compiling a record of 39–53–1.
Van Leigh Tiffin is a former American football placekicker.
Donald Lee Cockroft is an American former professional football player who was a punter and placekicker for 13 seasons with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He has the third most career points for a Brown behind fellow kickers Phil Dawson (second) and Lou Groza.
Russell John "Rusty" Lisch is an American former football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played five seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals (1980–1983) and the Chicago Bears (1984). In five seasons in the NFL, Lisch only managed one touchdown versus 11 interceptions, and ended his career with a 25.1 passer rating. He is considered by many to be one of the least effective quarterbacks in NFL history, if not the least effective, to have started multiple games.
Steven Richard Little was an American professional football player who was a kicker and punter in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is the third-highest drafted kicker in NFL history, behind Charlie Gogolak of Princeton and Russell Erxleben of Texas. Little was drafted higher than future NFL greats Ozzie Newsome and Todd Christensen.
The 1984 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 65th year with the National Football League and the 25th season in St. Louis. Despite finishing with the same 9–7 record as their division rivals Dallas and New York, the Giants made the playoffs based upon the best head-to-head record among the three teams.
Joshua Norwood Jasper is a former American football placekicker.
Chandler Catanzaro is a former American football placekicker. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and later played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, and Carolina Panthers. He played college football at Clemson.
Sergio Albert is a Mexican former American football placekicker who played one season with the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at U.S. International University.
Eric Schubert is a former American football placekicker. Schubert started off with the Pittsburgh Maulers in 1984. He then played for the New York Giants in 1985, the St. Louis Cardinals in 1986 and for the New England Patriots in 1987.