Rick Donnelly

Donnelly taught himself to kick footballs on the street in front of his house: "I'd get three footballs, go out into the road, kick them back and forth and run after them all day long."[1] He was inspired by his older brother, Joe, who played fullback at Post.[1]

Donnelly attended Miller Place High School in Miller Place, New York, where he played football and baseball.[1][2] He played kicker on the football team, though he was also the team's starting quarterback as a senior.[1] Donnelly committed to play college football at Wyoming over other schools such as Penn State and Syracuse.[3] "I was really just trying to get away from it all, get away from the East," he said. "I had grown up there, lived there all my life. I wanted something different."[3]

Donnelly averaged 39.6 yards per punt as a freshman at Wyoming.[4] As a senior in 1984, he finished third in the nation with an average of 47.5 yards per punt.[5] He also went three for six on field goals and 30 for 30 on extra points, and was invited to play in the East–West Shrine Bowl.[5]

After going undrafted in the 1985 NFL draft, Donnelly signed a free agent contract with the New England Patriots in June.[6] He played in two preseason games, averaging 44.5 yards per punt, but he was waived in favor of veteran Rich Camarillo.[3][7] Donnelly was signed by the Atlanta Falcons on August 23, and the team soon released their veteran punter, Ralph Giacomarro.[7] Donnelly set a franchise record in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles on November 10, when he averaged 52.1 yards on seven punts, besting Billy Lothridge' 50-yard average on September 17, 1967.c However, he suffered a season-ending knee injury the following week against the Los Angeles Rams.[8]

In 1987, Donnelly recorded a league-leading gross average of 44.0 yards per punt, finishing just ahead of Pro Bowl punter Jim Arnold.[9]

Donnelly missed the entire 1989 season after undergoing back surgery.[10]