All 49ers

The 49ers Sign Punter Pat O'Donnell to the Practice Squad

Small world.

Grant Cohn

Nov 27, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears punter Pat O'Donnell (16) before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-Imagn Images
Nov 27, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears punter Pat O'Donnell (16) before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-Imagn Images / Tim Fuller-Imagn Images
In this story:

The 49ers might have a new punter this weekend.

Mitch Wishnowsky's back flared up after the 49ers' 23-20 win over the Buccaneers this past Sunday -- it's unclear if he'll be able to play this week against the Seahawks. As a result, the 49ers just signed veteran punter Pat O'Donnell to the practice squad.

O'Donnell is a former sixth-round pick who has been in the NFL since 2014. He spent the bulk of his career with the Bears where he played for two seasons with Robbie Gould, who went on to play for the 49ers from 2017 to 2022. Who knows, maybe Gould recommended O'Donnell to the 49ers.

Now O'Donnell is 33 -- one year older than Wishnowsky. O'Donnell spent the past two seasons on various practice squads, so he might not be the punter he was once. But his career yards-per-punt average is 45.1. For comparison, Wishnowsky's yards-per-punt average this season is 45.2. So it's possible there will be no drop off from him to O'Donnell. We'll find out soon enough.

Here's a quick story about O'Donnell that might amuse you.

Two days ago after the 49ers beat the Buccaneers, I flew home from Tampa to San Francisco. This was Monday. I was cheap, so I had to change planes in Ft. Lauderdale. On my flight from Ft. Lauderdale to San Francisco, I sat next to O'Donnell, although I didn't know who he was at the time. Clearly, the 49ers had called him that day and invited him to a tryout which he won.

Small world.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Home/News