Alfred James Cole III (born November 27, 1995) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

punter for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at N.C. State.

Early years

Cole grew up in College Park, Georgia and attended Woodward Academy, where he played football, basketball, and soccer. As a senior, Cole was named All-Metro Area by '' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution''.

College career

Cole was a four year starter at punter for the

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college footb ...

. He finished his collegiate career with 9,288 punting yards (third-highest in school history) and averaged 42.2 yards per punt. He was a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy as a junior and a semifinalist for the award as a senior. In 2017, Cole was awarded Honorable Mention All-American honors by GPR Analytics.

Professional career

2019 season

Cole was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

on May 6, 2019, after participating in a rookie mini camp with the team. He beat out incumbent punter Johnny Townsend during training camp to make the Raiders 53 man roster. AJColeTrainingCamp (cropped)

Cole made his NFL debut on September 9, 2019, against the Denver Broncos, punting three times for 134 yards (44.7 average). Cole finished his rookie season with 67 punts for 3,081 yards (46.0 yards per punt).

2020 season

In the 2020 season, Cole punted 44 times for an average of 44.1 yards.

2021 season

On December 9, 2021, Cole signed a four-year, $12.4 million contract extension with the Raiders. On December 20, 2021, Cole was named to the 2022 Pro Bowl. Cole led the league among qualified punters in yards per punt in 2021, averaging 50.03 yards per punt. Cole received first-team All-Pro distinction in 2021.

2022 season

At the start of the season Cole was named, for the first time in his career, one of the team captains. On the 2022 season, Cole had 59 punts for 2,884 net yards for a 48.88 average. On January 30, 2023, Cole was named to his second Pro Bowl, replacing Tommy Townsend.

2023 season

On November 5, 2023, in the victory 30–6 against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Cole punted five times and totaled 318 yards on those punts, setting the NFL record for gross punt average in a game, with 63.6 yards.

References

External links

NC State Wolfpack bioLas Vegas Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, A. J. III 1995 births Living people American football punters NC State Wolfpack football players Las Vegas Raiders players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from College Park, Georgia Woodward Academy alumni American Conference Pro Bowl players