Nick O'Leary

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Nick O'Leary
refer to caption
O'Leary with the Buffalo Bills in 2015
No. 84, 83, 86
Position:Tight end
Personal information
Born: (1992-08-31) August 31, 1992 (age 31)
North Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:252 lb (114 kg)
Career information
High school:William T. Dwyer
(Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)
College:Florida State (2011–2014)
NFL draft:2015 / Round: 6 / Pick: 194
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
  • Floroda State (2023–present)
    Student assistant coach - offense
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:53
Receiving yards:668
Receiving touchdowns:4
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Nicklaus O'Leary (born August 31, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, earning consensus All-American honors in 2014. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft.

Early years[edit]

Nicklaus O'Leary is one of five children of Bill and Nan (Nicklaus) O'Leary.[1][2] He attended Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where he played football and lacrosse.[1] He won state titles in both football and lacrosse. As a senior, he had 51 receptions for 875 yards and 12 touchdowns.[3] Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was listed as the top-ranked tight end recruit in his class.[4]

College career[edit]

Nick O'Leary at FSU.

As a true freshman in 2011, O'Leary played in all 13 games with two starts. He finished the season with 12 receptions for 164 yards and one touchdown. As a sophomore in 2012, he started 11 of 13 games, recording 21 receptions for 252 yards and three touchdowns. As a junior in 2013, he was a John Mackey Award finalist after recording 33 receptions for 557 yards with seven touchdowns.[5] After considering entering the 2014 NFL draft, O'Leary returned to Florida State for his senior season.[6] During his senior season, he set Florida State's record for career receptions for a tight end.[7] He again was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, this time winning it.[8] He was also named a consensus All-American.[9] O'Leary finished the season with 48 receptions for 618 yards and six touchdowns.[10] For his career, O'Leary had 114 receptions for 1,591 yards and 17 touchdowns.

College statistics[edit]

Florida State Seminoles
Season Team GP Receiving
Rec Yds TD
2011 Florida State 13 12 164 1
2012 Florida State 13 21 252 3
2013 Florida State 12 33 557 7
2014 Florida State 13 48 618 6
Totals 51 114 1,591 17

Professional career[edit]

Buffalo Bills[edit]

O'Leary was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round (194th overall) of the 2015 NFL draft.[11]

On September 8, 2015, the Bills cut O'Leary and re-signed him to the practice squad two days later.[12] On December 8, 2015, he was promoted to the active roster after Matthew Mulligan was cut.[13]

On November 12, 2017, in a 47–10 loss to the New Orleans Saints, he caught his first career touchdown, a seven-yard pass from quarterback Nathan Peterman.[14]

On September 1, 2018, O'Leary was released by the Bills.[15]

Miami Dolphins[edit]

On September 20, 2018, O'Leary was signed to the Miami Dolphins' practice squad.[16] He was promoted to the active roster on October 5, 2018.[17] He scored his first touchdown with the Dolphins in Week 6 against the Bears on a five-yard pass from Brock Osweiler.[18] On December 1, 2018, O'Leary signed a one-year contract extension with the Dolphins through the 2019 season.[19]

On October 29, 2019, O’Leary was released by the Dolphins.

Jacksonville Jaguars[edit]

On November 18, 2019, O'Leary was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars.[20]

Las Vegas Raiders[edit]

On April 6, 2020, O'Leary was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders.[21] He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on May 28, 2020.[22] On June 23, 2020, it was revealed that O'Leary underwent a heart procedure because there was a 100% blockage in one artery adjacent with the heart. Some sources surfaced that O'Leary was retiring from football, but O'Leary still intended to play in 2021, regardless of his recent procedure.[23]

Coaching career[edit]

In 2023, O'Leary joined Florida State as a student assistant coach, working with the offense. [24]

NFL career statistics[edit]

Year Team Games Receiving
GP GS Tgt Rec Yds Avg Lng TD R/G Y/G
2015 BUF 4 0 3 1 37 37.0 37 0 0.3 9.3
2016 BUF 16 7 14 9 114 12.7 28 0 0.6 7.1
2017 BUF 15 5 32 22 322 14.6 32 2 1.5 21.5
2018 MIA 12 7 10 8 86 10.8 19 1 0.7 10.2
2019 MIA 7 2 5 4 37 9.3 19 0 0.6 5.3
JAX 5 3 13 9 72 8.0 15 1 1.8 14.4
Career 59 24 77 53 668 12.6 37 4 0.8 11.3

Personal life[edit]

O'Leary's maternal grandfather is golfing legend Jack Nicklaus.[25][26] Nick's father, Bill, was a highly recruited tight end who played at the University of Georgia, and his mother, Nan, played volleyball at Georgia.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Making his own name: Nick O'Leary _ Jack Nicklaus' grandson _ is the nation's top TE recruit
  2. ^ "The Nicklaus-Sarasota O'Leary connection | October 19, 2012 | Mark Cardon | HT Golf". Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  3. ^ Schad, Joe. "Miami Dolphins promote TE Nick O'Leary of Palm Beach to 53-man roster". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  4. ^ "Nick O'Leary". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  5. ^ Jameis Winston, Nick O'Leary among 4 Florida State players who are finalists for national awards
  6. ^ Florida State tight end Nick O'Leary will return for his senior season, DT Timmy Jernigan going to NFL
  7. ^ Nick O'Leary, Rashad Greene set Florida State receiving marks
  8. ^ "FSU's Nick O'Leary named top tight end". ESPN.com. December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  9. ^ "Aguayo, O'Leary, Jackson named consensus all-americans". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  10. ^ "Bills TE Nick O'Leary carving out a role with his bare hands". Bills Wire. September 3, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  11. ^ "Bills acquire champion bloodlines, draft Nick O'Leary". BuffaloBills.com. May 3, 2015.
  12. ^ "Bills add TE Nick O'Leary to practice squad". BuffaloBills.com. September 10, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017.
  13. ^ Dunne, Tyler (December 8, 2015). "Bills make a TE switch: Matthew Mulligan is out, Nick O'Leary is in". BuffaloNews.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017.
  14. ^ "New Orleans Saints at Buffalo Bills - November 12th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  15. ^ "Bills make these moves to reach the 53-man roster limit". BuffaloBills.com. September 1, 2018.
  16. ^ "Dolphins sign former Bills TE Nick O'Leary to its practice squad". Dolphins Wire. USA Today. September 20, 2018.
  17. ^ "Nick O'Leary Promoted To Active Roster". MiamiDolphins.com. October 5, 2018.
  18. ^ "Nick O'Leary had a lot of Dolphins firsts Sunday. His famous grandfather saw it all". miamiherald. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  19. ^ Smith, Michael David (December 1, 2018). "Dolphins extend Nick O'Leary through 2019". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  20. ^ "Jaguars sign TE Nick O'Leary". Jaguars.com. November 18, 2019.
  21. ^ Alper, Josh (March 21, 2020). "Nick O'Leary signs with Raiders". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  22. ^ "Raiders re-sign tight end Paul Butler". Raiders.com. May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  23. ^ "Nick O'Leary plans return to football in 2021 after undergoing heart procedure last month". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  24. ^ "Former FSU tight end Nick O'Leary has joined Seminoles coaching staff". Tomahawk Nation. July 24, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  25. ^ Seminoles Tight End's Competitive Drive Recalls His Grandfather Nicklaus
  26. ^ FSU's Nick O'Leary hopes to step out of famous grandfather Jack Nicklaus' shadow
  27. ^ "The Nicklaus-Sarasota O'Leary connection". golf.heraldtribune.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.

External links[edit]