Michael Purcell (born April 20, 1991) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(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 ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, and was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

as an

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

free agent in 2013.

College career

Purcell played 42 games (36 starts) at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

and totaled 197 tackles, four sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in his four-year career. He earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors as a senior after recording 83 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Purcell was signed by the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on May 7, 2013. He was signed to the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 2, 2013. On January 22, 2014, Purcell signed a reserve/future contract with San Francisco, before being signed to the team's practice squad on August 31, 2014. On December 19, 2014, Purcell was promoted to the active roster after

Ray McDonald Raymondo Antoine McDonald (born September 2, 1984) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida, where he was a member o ...

's release on December 17, 2014. In 2015, Purcell played in eight games (3 starts) with and recorded 15 tackles (11 solo) and one sack. In 2016, he played in a 15 games (5 starts) with and totaled 26 tackles (17 solo) and one forced fumble. On February 27, 2017, Purcell signed a one-year tender with the 49ers. On May 2, 2017, Purcell was released by the 49ers.

Los Angeles Rams

On May 3, 2017, Purcell was claimed off waivers by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. He was released on September 2, 2017.

Chicago Bears

On September 19, 2017, Purcell was signed to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

' practice squad. He was released on October 6, 2017.

Carolina Panthers

On October 10, 2017, Purcell was signed to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

' practice squad. He was released on October 16, 2017.

New England Patriots

On October 25, 2017, Purcell was signed to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

' practice squad, but was released the next day. He was re-signed to the practice squad on November 7, 2017. He was released on November 22, 2017.

Kansas City Chiefs

On November 28, 2017, Purcell was signed to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

' practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Chiefs on January 10, 2018. He was released on May 1, 2018. He was re-signed by the Chiefs on July 27, 2018. He was released again on September 1, 2018.

Salt Lake Stallions

In 2019, Purcell joined the

Salt Lake Stallions The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team i ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

Denver Broncos

On April 22, 2019, Purcell signed with the

. Purcell signed a one-year

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

tender with the Broncos on April 18, 2020. In Week 2 of the 2020 season against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, Purcell recorded his first sack in five years on

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college footba ...

during the 26–21 loss. On October 6, 2020, he signed a three-year, $14.8 million contract extension with the Broncos. Purcell was placed on injured reserve after suffering a season-ending foot injury in week 7 on October 27, 2020. On August 31, 2022, Purcell re-signed with the Broncos.

References

External links

Pro Football career stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purcell, Mike 1991 births Living people American sportspeople of Samoan descent Players of American football from Colorado People from Highlands Ranch, Colorado American football defensive tackles Wyoming Cowboys football players San Francisco 49ers players Sportspeople from the Denver metropolitan area Los Angeles Rams players Carolina Panthers players Chicago Bears players New England Patriots players Kansas City Chiefs players Salt Lake Stallions players Denver Broncos players