GREEN BAY – The Packers have a new punter.
Green Bay has signed ninth-year veteran Pat O'Donnell. In 128 career games with the Chicago Bears, the 6-foot-4, 223-pound punter averaged 45.1 yards on 564 punts with 220 dropping inside the 20-yard line.
Here are five things to know about O'Donnell:
1. He's no stranger to punting in cold weather.
While a native of Lake Worth, Fla., O'Donnell has punted in one of the NFL's toughest environments at Soldier Field for the past eight seasons. He also has proven to be a punter who can maintain his average throughout a full season despite the elements. He's averaged 44.6 yards on 152 punts during the months of December and January. He carries a similar career average (44.8) in 103 outdoor contests. What's more, O'Donnell never has had any of his punts returned for a touchdown during his NFL career. He owns the Bears' team record for career gross punting average (45.1) and net punting average (39.3). He also set a single-season record for net punting with a 40.7 average in 2019.
2. O'Donnell has been as durable as he's been consistent.
His 109 consecutive games played are third-most among active punters, trailing only Pro Bowlers Johnny Hekker (161) and Kevin Huber (129). O'Donnell has missed just one game in his NFL career. It occurred following the Bears' 26-0 loss to Seattle in Week 3 of the 2015 season, when O'Donnell developed a knee sprain after punting 10 times. It was the first time in 35 years an NFL team punted after each of its offensive possessions in a game. Coincidentally, O'Donnell hit the first of his two career long punts of 72 yards in that contest. Chicago chose to sit him the following week against the Raiders.
3. He was the only punter drafted in 2014.
O'Donnell impressed at the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine after putting up 23 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press and running a 4.64-second time in the 40. The Bears felt strongly enough about his upside to make O'Donnell the only punter to be drafted that year when they selected the University of Miami (Fla.) punter with their sixth-round pick (No. 191 overall). He was voted to the PFWA All-Rookie Team after averaging 43.8 yards on 71 punts with 20 punts inside the 20-yard line.
4. O'Donnell started his college career in Cincinnati.
A two-star recruit coming out of Palm Beach (Fla.) Central High School, O'Donnell established himself as one of the country's top punters during a four-year run with the Bearcats. After transferring to Miami in 2013, O'Donnell was named first-team All-ACC after setting a new single-season school record with 47.1 yards per punt. He finished his college career with a 43.5-yard average on 234 punts, downing 78 inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
5. He's thrown a touchdown pass in the NFL.
O'Donnell brings with him a perfect 158.3 career passer rating after completing a 38-yard touchdown pass to Benny Cunningham off a fake punt during Week 5 of the 2017 season against Minnesota. To this day, it remains the only pass O'Donnell has thrown in the NFL.
