Cards give punter Cooney another shot
When veterans and rookies alike report next week for the first round of offseason organized team activities at the Cardinals’ Tempe training facility, there will be plenty of stories worth watching. There’s the development of untested inside linebacker Zaven Collins, more reaction and fallout from DeAndre Hopkins’ suspension and whether quarterback Kyler Murray will show up at all as he awaits a contract extension.
Then there’s the inspirational story of punter Nolan Cooney, whom you’re about to read about now.
The Cardinals already have an established punter in All-Pro Andy Lee, who is entering his 19th NFL season and will turn 40 in August. But it never hurts to have a young contender around in case of an emergency and in Cooney’s case, his mere ascension to making an NFL roster is somewhat of a miracle.
Who else do you know of that was diagnosed with cancer as a teenager, never played football until deciding to pick up punting on a whim while undergoing chemotherapy treatment, and actually made it this far after only punting one season in college?
But here he is, getting a second shot in the NFL after being one of the Saints’ final roster cuts heading into last season. And to think, it probably never would have happened had doctors not discovered he had testicular cancer during his junior year at East Greenwich High in Rhode Island.
“You know, I think about that sometimes,” Cooney told The Republic during a phone interview upon participating in the Cardinals’ recent three-day rookie mini-camp. “A lot of people say everything happens for a reason and I think I can be a firm believer in that.
“To have this opportunity to play for the Arizona Cardinals, who knows if that would have been the case in where you end up and the people that you meet. So yeah, I think it’s fair to say that.”
Cooney, 25, played baseball, basketball and soccer in high school. It was his experience as a goalie in soccer that stoked the idea about possibly becoming a punter. Football, he said, was his favorite sport to watch and he found himself focusing on kickers and punters every time he saw a game in person or on TV.
During his downtime after receiving one of his chemotherapy treatments, he started watching YouTube videos of punters to learn more about the skill. He watched thousands of them and when he was able, he would grab a football and start punting in the family’s backyard. It didn’t take long to realize he had a knack for it.
Cooney’s father, Joseph, suggested the two attend a kicking camp nearby and Nolan’s punting success story took off from there.
“It was my first time seeing if I really had any ability,” Cooney recalled. “I didn’t really have any expectations going into it, but from there, I was like, ‘Heck, there could be an opportunity to play at the
highest level possible.”
Punting was 'a way to stay busy'
Cooney said he can “count on one hand” the number of kicking camps and clinics he attended. Mostly, he was selftaught. He got better, he said, the more he worked out with other kickers and punters. He would have tried out for the East Greenwich football team as a senior, but local rules didn’t allow students to participate in both soccer and football at the same time.
Part of the reason he picked up punting in the first place was just to find a distraction to get his mind off of his cancer diagnosis, which required surgery and nine weeks of chemo.
“I was looking for something to keep me busy more than anything,” Cooney said. “Whether you’re feeling good or feeling bad, there was a lot of time that I was away from school. I had a compromised immune system, so it was really just a way to stay busy that sparked that idea.
“It became more of an interest to learn about it and watch more film and it became kind of something to look forward to when the summer rolled around.”
But Cooney was intent on playing football, so he signed up for a postgraduate year at Bridgton Academy in Maine and got his shot as a punter there. He couldn’t get a college scholarship anywhere, but he managed to earn a walk-on opportunity at Syracuse, where his mom, Janice, went to school.
Cooney had met former Syracuse punter Riley Dixon, who now kicks for the Rams, at a punting camp and developed a relationship that helped him get his foot in the door at Syracuse. He served as the holder for placement kicks his first three years there and then won the punting job – and a scholarship – as a senior.
“I feel fortunate that I had a really good punter in front of me, Sterling Hofrichter,” Cooney said, referring to the Buccaneers’ punter. “I learned so much from him after only playing one year of college football. Quite frankly, I wasn’t ready for a few years to get out on the field.
“Going into that year, I had gained confidence, I gained ability, gained trust in a lot of people to go out and perform and even if it was just one year, I thought it was a great opportunity to go out and continue to play football for as long as I could.”
Cooney was a major success for the Orange, averaging a school-record 44.8 yards per kick. He led all FBS punters in total punts (74) and yards (3,314) with 24 downed inside the 20 and only three touchbacks.
Lots of NFL teams took notice, including the Cardinals. Special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Jeff Rodgers took time to get to know him and when he was released by the Saints, he was high on Arizona’s watch list. In January, the team signed him to a futures contract.
Nothing is guaranteed, of course. Lee is still the Cardinals’ No.1 punter. For Cooney to crack the 53-man roster or more likely, earn a spot on the practice squad, he must be able to impress at every opportunity, including during OTA’s next week in Tempe.
“I just want to try and learn from as many people as I can in the building, whether it’s a specialist or a coach or a teammate,” Cooney said. “I just want to pick the brain of as many people as I can to understand how this league works and also to learn from people who have had success doing it.”
“This is the time you can learn the most in your life.”
Oh, and as for that rule back in East Greenwich prohibiting players from participating in both football and soccer during the same season? It’s been revoked. They call it the “Nolan Cooney Rule.”
Note
The Cardinals have now signed seven of their eight rookie draft picks, coming to terms Wednesday with third-round pass rusher Myjai Sanders on a four-year contract. That leaves third-round edge rusher Cameron Thomas as the only unsigned player from this year’s rookie draft class.