National Football League

Browns' Dawson still kickin'

Published Oct. 21, 2010 8:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

In the city that gave you Lou ''The Toe'' maybe he should be called Phil ''The Foot.''

Over a dozen mostly awful seasons of football for the Cleveland Browns, there have been two constants: change and Phil Dawson splitting the uprights.

Despite playing on some wretched teams, the 12-year veteran kicker has been better than good - with one of the steadiest and most accurate legs in the NFL since 1999. On Sunday in Pittsburgh, a city where he made one of the first and biggest kicks of his pro career, Dawson can surpass Hall of Famer Lou ''The Toe'' Groza for the most career field goals in team history.

His next made field goal, No. 235, will move him past Groza, whose mark he zeroed in on as soon as he beat out two other kickers to make the Browns' roster.

''It's a goal I've had since the day I got here,'' Dawson said. ''Had I announced that back then, I probably would've gotten laughed out of town. It's heresy, you know. I wanted to see where the bar had been set here.''

It's about to rise.

Last week, Dawson tied Groza's record by making a 19-yarder against Atlanta, a chip shot for the 35-year-old, whose ability to kick in bad weather has become legendary in Cleveland.

''Physically, you can't have a shorter field goal than from 19,'' said Dawson, the only member of the Browns' expansion team still on the roster. ''It's as close as you can get. That took a little of the pressure off.''

Dawson, though, has always been his best when the stakes are highest. He admitted being ''pretty nervous'' in the days leading up to the Atlanta game, knowing he had a chance to rewrite the record book.

''But in the heat of the moment, everything felt normal,'' he said.

When he left the field, Dawson's wife, Shannon, was waiting for him along with the couple's young sons, Dru and Beau. Dawson had managed to control his emotions all week, but once he was with his family, the soft-spoken Texan finally broke down.

''That's when it hit me that it happened,'' he said. ''One of my boys said, 'Dad, that's pretty cool.' That's when all the emotions came. It gave me a little shot in the arm, that after all these years, I got something positive done and I feel good about it.''

Dawson's career has been both outstanding and clutch. His 83 percent accuracy rate is ninth-highest in league history, and he has booted 12 game-winners. In '99, his last-second field goal in Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium helped the Browns avenge a 43-0 loss in the season opener. In 2007, his game-tying 51-yarder at Baltimore struck the upright and bounced off the metal support neck behind the crossbar as time expired, forcing overtime in a game the Browns won on his 33-yard field goal.

Later that year, he kicked two field goals in a blizzard against Buffalo, making one kick by aiming at the corner pylon to overcompensate for 50 mph winds whipping through Browns Stadium.

Neither snow, nor rain, nor wind, nor lousy fields nor pressure situations have stopped Dawson from kicking the Browns to victory - just not as many as he would have liked.

''He's the best in bad weather or bad field conditions,'' left tackle Joe Thomas said. ''I sit next to him in team meetings and talk to him all the time. He always laments the poor field conditions, but I say 'that's your advantage because you are the best at it in the NFL. You're more valuable than anyone else.' There are lots of guys who kick in perfect conditions in San Diego and they are great kickers.

''But that's not what's hard about being a kicker. It's about kicking in the cold when it's 30 degrees or less and the winds blowing or you're kicking on an unstable field. Phil still drills them at crunch time. I hope he's here for another 12 years.''

The wins have been few and far between for Dawson, whose Browns have been just 60-121 during his time in Cleveland. He's in the final year of his contract and there are no guarantees he will be back in 2011.

Although he has been one of the league's elite kickers, Dawson has ranked near the bottom in salary. He has asked for a long-term deal in the past, but despite being promised by several regimes that he would get one, the team hasn't made good on its word.

It's hard to imagine Dawson kicking for anyone but the Browns.

''That's a question for about 2 1/2 months from now,'' Dawson said. ''My focus is on doing my job right now, kicking well. This is Steeler week, a special week. I always enjoy it because it feels like college all over again.''

Coach Eric Mangini would not address Dawson's future, saying contract matters are handled by general manager Tom Heckert and president Mike Holmgren.

Mangini, though, did have high praise for Dawson.

''The things that he's done as a Cleveland Brown have been exceptional,'' he said. ''I'm looking forward to him breaking the record this weekend. I want all touchdowns but a field goal mixed in, a game-winner would be a nice way to break the record.''