Mike Nugent has been released by the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday following a series of missed attempts this season. It was a difficult decision according to head coach Marvin Lewis, but the Bengals need to move forward and they felt releasing Nugent was in the team's best interest.
"Mike is a tremendous teammate and has been an integral part of the team for seven seasons. We wish him the best," says Lewis in a news release.
This season had been a tough one for Nugent. The veteran kicker was Number 2 among the worst kickers, just behind former Vikings Blair Walsh according to the NFL. He has 23 of 29 field goals, on top of the extra points he missed. He failed to nail any of his extra point attempts four games in a row and missed a PAT in a game against the Redskins that resulted in a deadlock.
These constant misses and lack of consistency in extra points has made fans of Cincinnati angry. He got booed as he was lining up for kicks at Paul Brown stadium last week.
"You have to earn the cheers and the respect as well, and I'm not doing that right now," Nugent told ESPN after Sunday's game against the Browns. He failed to earn an extra point during the first quarter and ended the first half with a missed 36-yard field goal in that game.
A native of Ohio, Nugent was All-American at Ohio State. He started playing with Cincinnati in 2010, and set the team's records with 132 points in 2011 and 33 successful field goals. At the same time, he shares the franchise record for best ever regular-season (55 yards) field goal.
As Mike Nugent's era with Cincinnati comes to a close, the Bengals have signed Randy Bullock off waivers from Pittsburgh Steelers to take over Nugent's role. The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, were reported by Jobs & Hire to have re-signed the infamous Brett "Da Beard" Keisel in 2014 for a two-year contract.
