Native of Centerville, Ohio, played third Bengals season in 2012 ... Made 19 of 23 FG attempts, including club record-tying 55-yarder, but suffered calf injury in practice Dec. 5, causing him to be inactive for Games 13-15, and he was placed Dec. 28 on Reserve/Injured list ... His career-best 132 points in 2011 set Bengals record ... Career-best 33 FGs in ’11 also set Bengals record ... Made successful return to action in ’11 from knee injury that shortened ’10 campaign ... Former Ohio State All-American was second-round N.Y. Jets draft pick in 2005 and averaged 102 points per season for Jets from ’05-07 while a team captain.
CAREER TRANSACTIONS: Selected by N.Y. Jets in second round of 2005 NFL Draft (47th overall) ... Signed with Tampa Bay as an unrestricted free agent on 3-4-09 ... Released by Bucs on 10-6-09 ... Signed 12-16-09 with Arizona ... Released by Arizona on 1-1-10 ... Signed with Cincinnati as free agent on 4-23-10 ... Designated 3-2-12 as Bengals franchise player, and re-signed with Cincinnati on 4-25-12.
33 YEARS IN THE MAKING: On the last play of the first half Nov. 25 vs. Oakland, Nugent connected on a personal career-long 55-yard FG. It tied a Bengals mark set only once previously, by Chris Bahr on 9-23-79 vs. Houston. In the roughly 33 years between the Bahr and Nugent kicks, four Bengals kickers combined to make six unsuccessful tries from 55 or more yards.
MORE 2012 HIGHLIGHTS: Played in Games 1-12 and was 19-for-23 on FGs and 35-for-35 on PATs ... Handled all kickoffs ... Inactive for Games 13-15, due to right calf injury, and not on roster (Reserve/Injured) for Game 16 and Wild Card playoff ... Made both FG attempts (39, 37) in win Sept. 16 vs. Cleveland ... Only FG on Sept. 23 at Washington was a 47-yarder ... Two-for-two (both 35-yarders) Sept. 30 at Jacksonville ... Made only FG attempt (44) Oct. 14 at Cleveland ... Converted only attempt—48-yarder—Oct. 21 vs. Pittsburgh ... Made three of four FGs Nov. 4 vs. Denver, converting from 28, 40 and a season-long 49-yarder, and missing wide right from 46 ... Made his only FG attempt (28 yards) Nov. 11 vs. N.Y. Giants ... Missed wide left from 50 yards Nov. 18 at Kansas City ... Converted both FG attempts (19 and 24 yards) Dec. 2 at San Diego.
NUGENT'S GAME-WINNERS: Nugent has made five game-winning FGs in the last two minutes of regulation or in overtime, including two last season ... On Oct. 2 of last season vs. Buffalo, converted from 43 yards as time expired to break a tie and give Bengals 23-20 win ... On Nov. 27 last season vs. Cleveland, he hit a 26-yarder with 0:38 left, giving Bengals 23-20 win ... For Jets vs. Pittsburgh on 11-18-07, his 38-yarder in OT produced a 19-16 win ... For Jets vs. Kansas City on 12-30-07, his 43-yarder in OT netted a 13-10 win ... For Jets at Miami on 12-25-06, made a 30-yard FG in the rain with 10 seconds left, lifting Jets to 13-10 win in Monday night game.
PREVIOUS SEASONS: 2005—Played in every Jets game and scored 90 points, going 22-for-28 on FGs and 24-for-24 on PATs ... Went four-for-four on FGs in win Dec. 11 vs. Oakland.
2006—Scored 106 points as Jets went 10-6 to earn Wild Card playoff berth ... Made 24-of-27 FG attempts, setting Jets season accuracy record (88.9 percent) ... Made all three FG attempts in playoff loss at New England.
2007—Logged second straight 100-point season for Jets (110) ... 50-yard FG on Sept. 16 at Baltimore was his 19th straight, a streak that ranked second in Jets history ... On Nov. 4 vs. Washington, hit game-tying 30-yarder with 10 seconds left ... Went four-for-four on FGs in consecutive games Dec. 2 at Miami and Dec. 9 vs. Cleveland.
2008—Suffered quad injury on a kickoff in Jets opener Sept. 7 at Miami and was not able to finish game ... Following recovery, Jets chose not to displace Jay Feely as No. 1 kicker, and Nugent remained on roster on game day inactive status through season’s end.
2009—Played Games 1-4 for Tampa Bay after signing as UFA, but released after Week 4 ... Signed with Arizona and played Games 14-15, but released the week of Game 16 ... Over six combined games, he went 14-for-14 on PATs and four-for-eight on FGs.
2010—Joined Bengals as free agent and posted longest streak of consecutive made FGs to open a Cincinnati career, nine-of-nine during Games 1-4 ... Kicked 54-yard FG on Sept. 12 at New England, tying at the time for second-longest FG in Bengals history ... Earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honor for Sept. 19 vs. Baltimore, when he went five-for-five on FGs (career high for a game), scoring all of Cincinnati’s points in 15-10 win ... AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September ... Suffered knee injury (ACL tear) on onside kick attempt Nov. 14 at Indianapolis ... Placed Nov. 15 on Reserve/Injured list ... Reached end zone on 16 of 44 kickoffs, with seven touchbacks.
2011—Played in all 16 games and Wild Card playoff ... Scored Bengals-record 132 points, surpassing Shayne Graham’s mark of 131 from 2005, and his 33 FGs also set club mark, passing Graham’s 31 in ’05 ... Made late game-winning FGs vs. Buffalo and vs. Cleveland ... First in AFC and second in NFL in total FGs ... Had 67 of his 80 kickoffs (83.8 percent) reach end zone and helped Bengals rank first in NFL in average starting field position after kicking off (20.3-yard line) ... Three-for-three on FGs Oct. 2 vs. Buffalo, including game-winner (23-20) from 43 yards as time expired ... Two-for-two on FGs Oct. 30 at Seattle, including 48-yarder in fourth quarter to give Bengals 20-12 lead ... Three-for-three on FGs Nov. 27 vs. Cleveland (23, 40, 26), including game-winner (23-20) from 26 yards with 0:38 remaining ... One-for-two on FGs in Wild Card playoff 1-7-12 at Houston, going wide right from 50 yards before converting from 37.
DO-IT-YOUSELF BLOCK WINNER: Nugent was named in 2011 as the Bengals recipient of the annual Ed Block Courage Award, which honors players who demonstrate commitment to the values of sportsmanship and courage. Nugent suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on his kicking leg in Game 9 of 2010, but fully recovered and was ready in time for the start of 2011 training camp in late July. The NFL lockout during the ’11 offseason complicated an already-difficult rehabilitation process for an ACL injury, and Nugent earned praise for arranging much of his own treatment for recovery.
COLLEGE: Left Ohio State with 22 school records, including most career points (356) ... Won the Lou Groza Award (nation’s top kicker) as a senior in 2004 and was a consensus All-American ... In OSU’s 2002 national title season, he scored school-record 120 points and became first Buckeye kicker to earn first-team All-America honors ... Was 72-for-88 (81.8 percent) on career FGs.
PERSONAL: Hometown is Centerville, Ohio ... Attended Centerville High School, where he was a second-team Division I All-Ohio selection by Associated Press ... Also played QB as a prep senior ... Earned degree from Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business ... Married (wife Emily) ... Active in community service; has worked with United Way and Taste of NFL ... Father, Dan, played football at Wisconsin and Dayton ... In 2006, appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and kicked a football through a 12th-floor window at CBS offices ... Hobbies include golf, traveling and coaching football camps.
