Health issues behind him, Michael Koenen ready to make comeback

Punter Michael Koenen was not on an NFL team in 2015, for the first time in a decade.

Instead, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons specialist was fighting for his health, and watching his weight drop well below his normal playing weight.

Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez tells Koenen’s story, now a potential comeback tale as Koenen is finally healthy enough to begin pursuing another job in the league.

Things started going downhill for Koenen in 2014, when he believes he drank tainted sports water. He began dealing with negative effects like nausea, body aches and other flu-like symptoms. The water was recalled, and Koenen stopped drinking it, but the damage was done.

The Buccaneers cut him after his subpar season, with two years remaining on the six-year, $19.5 million free agent contract he’d signed in 2011.

Then, earlier this year, things got worse: Koenen contracted clostridium difficile, a colon bacteria that can be fatal. As he dealt with the infection, his weight plummeted to 153.4 pounds; over 40 pounds below his listed playing weight.

 “C. diff makes you go to the bathroom with diarrhea 15, 16 times a day,” Koenen told Marvez this week via telephone. “It’s almost uncontrollable. You have to stay at home and there’s not much you can do. You spend a lot of time puking and trying to get rid of stuff in your body.”

Unable to play with his children for any significant length of time because he had no energy, Koenen finally got relief when he met with a Seattle-area gastroenterologist who prescribed a treatment plan to rid the bacteria from his body.

Koenen says he isn’t 100 percent yet, but he’s gotten his weight back over 190 pounds. He’s been taking part in personal punting sessions, and is a week away from feeling ready to take teams up on tryout feelers his agent has been getting.

The 33-year old believes he might be a better kicker after his ordeal.

“Nobody can truly understand everything I went through,” Koenen said. “You gain a lot of perspective when you go through a trial like this. It makes you stronger as a person and builds your character. That will definitely translate to the game. Who you are as a person equates to who you are as a player.”