Neil O'Donoghue
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Dublin, Ireland
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| Born | 18 January 1953 Dublin, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 208 lb (94 kg; 14 st 12 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College: | Auburn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1977: 5th round, 127th overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cornelius Joseph Dennis O'Donoghue (born 18 January 1953) is an Irish-born former professional football placekicker, who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 1977 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the St. Louis Cardinals.
From 1987 to 2023, until Daniel Whelan was selected as punter for the Green Bay Packers, O'Donoghue had been the most recent Irish-born American to have played in the NFL.[1] At 6 ft 6 inches, he is the tallest kicker in NFL history.[2]
O'Donoghue was born on 18 January 1953 in Dublin, the second son of Michael and Mary O'Donoghue (née Horgan).[3] He was named after his maternal uncle, a member of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who died fighting in the Second World War.[3] His mother worked as a nurse and also joined the war effort, as part of the Queen Alexandra's. This took her across Europe and North Africa, before moving to the United States to continue her work as a nurse. In order to apply for American citizenship, she briefly lived in Cuba and on the news of her father's death, returned to Ireland, where she reconnected with Michael O'Donoghue, who worked for Great Southern Railways.[3] Although he preferred hurling, he was better known for his career in field hockey, spending ten years as a full-back for the Ireland national field hockey team, and was later named as the first Catholic president of the Irish Hockey Union.[3]
O'Donoghue's family moved to Clondalkin, where his father became the sports administrator of Round Towers. O'Donoghue was described as one of the best juvenile players that Round Towers had produced. He played U13 Football at the age of eight and won an U13 League Final against St Pats Palmerstown in 1965. In his youth, he was known as Corny O'Donoghue, a reference to a character from James Joyce's Ulysses.[3]
In 1971, while representing Dublin, he faced off against Cork's Jimmy Barry-Murphy in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship semi-final, which saw Cork prevail over Dublin.[4]
Association football
O'Donoghue began his soccer career with Drumcondra. At the time, he was known as Con O'Donoghue, a homage to Con Martin, who had also played for the Drums.[3] He made his League of Ireland debut at some point in the 1969–70 season.[5] On 17 October 1971, O'Donoghue made his debut for Shamrock Rovers against Sligo Rovers, coming on as a substitute for Damien Richardson. On 31 October, and in his second game for the Hoops, he scored his first goal at Glenmalure Park against Limerick. He made a total of 16 appearances, including two each in the Texaco Cup and the FAI Cup, scoring 3 goals.[6][7]
O'Donoghue's brother Coli spent the summer of 1970 in Alabama and played soccer on the weekends. He was offered a soccer scholarship at Saint Bernard College, but declined as he was studying architecture in Ireland. However, he did suggest that O'Donoghue should take the scholarship instead. O'Donoghue was working part-time for CIÉ as a ticket inspector,[4] and with his mother returning to her nursing job, he decided to visit the campus where he became the first Irish person to be awarded a soccer scholarship. His time at the college was short-lived due to the oil crisis and the college's soccer program was cancelled, resulting in O'Donoghue beginning his new career as a placekicker in college football.[3]
In February 1978, he returned home at the end of the 1977 NFL season to play for Shelbourne.[8] During this time, he was briefly on the same team with Jimmy Johnstone.[2]