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December 30, 2010The longest tenured Brown, the man we call Captain Clutch and the guy who taught the world of modern-day NFL fans what the “stanchion” was may be playing his final game in Orange and Brown this Sunday.
While the media brigade prefers to cast a storm of rhetoric and hypotheticals on Eric Mangini and his band of perceived underachievers, Browns fans may be watching their four-star team captain take his final kick in Cleveland Browns Stadium as one of their own.
Now 35 years of age, Dawson has seen it all. He came aboard during the expansion season of 1999, endured the laundry list of men who considered themselves to be professional quarterbacks – though better suited to merely be holders on field goals and extra points – and saw the constant upheaval and three-ring circus that was Berea, Ohio. He has made many game-winners and has had a few fall just shy, but he continues to be the one player who fans could count on as a timeless and perpetual fixture each and every season.
But after two years of holding out of non-mandatory activities with hopes of a new contract with the only team he knows, Dawson will enter this offseason as a free agent.
Dawson has suited up in 183 games for the Cleveland Browns, scoring the first points for the “new” Browns back in 1999. Eleven years later, he passed Hall-of-Fame kicker Lou Groza for most field goals in the history of the franchise and is now sitting at 251 (thanks, Romeo!) with a conversion rate of 83.1 percent, a mark that has him among the top-10 most accurate in the history of the game. Coupling this with the actual grass of Cleveland Browns Stadium and lakefront weather that provides nightmarish conditions in which to kick, Dawson’s feat (or foot, for that matter) becomes that much more commendable.
Kickers of his caliber are bringing in an average of almost $3 million per season, three times what Dawson will make in the final year of his current contract. For a little extra income, Dawson started his own website and has made himself available to advise amateur programs of how to improve not only kicking, but special teams in general. Recall, Dawson had been recognized many times for his ability to know where many different position players should be on the field at any time, not merely kickoffs and field goal attempts.
Dawson recently told the Associated Press that while he is not emotional about the upcoming contest, he is undoubtedly sentimental and that he will be soaking all of Sunday in.
“I have a job to do,” he said, doing all he could to downplay his apparent finale. “I signed my name on the dotted line and until that’s no longer the case I’m going to continue doing my job. The challenge this week is to embrace the rivalry, what that entails, and block out whatever distractions there may be – and in this case, possibly being my last game.”
It is safe to say that fans of the Browns will be flush both emotion and setiment come Sunday afternoon, as it is difficult to envision anyone aside from No. 4 kicking a potential go-ahead field goal.
Dawson’s first of 14 game-winning kicks came against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team which travels to Cleveland this week to take on the Browns. Naturally, a storybook ending could come at the hands of Cleveland’s most bitter rival. And while his teammates have embraced this last week with Dawson, the veteran and long-time member of the city’s most beloved team is embracing nostalgia.
“There’s been a lot of good players come and go out of this place, I’m certainly not the only one, but it means a great deal to have played in this league as long as I have and especially in one place,” said Dawson. “To be able to develop the bond with the fans and the organization and teammates and friends and see my kids grow up here, it’s all been good.”
That it has, Phil. That it has.
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(AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
23 Comments
as a Michigan fan, I know how painful life can be with a crummy kicking game. I hope he stays. He’s about as consistent as 40 mph winds in Bowling Green
“There’s been a lot of good players come and go out of this place…well, not HERE per se…actually, that was Municipal Stadium. I mean seriously…we thought Charlie Frye could carry this team at one point. Sheesh.”
But seriously, Phil’s been maybe the most dependable player on the roster since the team returned in ’99. It will be sad to see him go.
Physical Phil.
Best nickname
I remember where I was when he kicked that first game winner against the Steelers. Crazy to think the first years of the expansion Browns were more competitive against them than… basically the last year of Butch Davis and beyond. Ugh…
Couldn’t quite figure out why not re-signing him initially bothered me so much. Objectively, there are tons of younger, unemployed kickers with better legs ready to learn bad-condition kicking just as Dawson did.
Now realize that this might be the first time in forever – Bernie, maybe?- that the Browns will replace a player who was competent long enough for us to even care. Joe J and Jamir Miller were here just for a minute, but basically a faceless parade. More than a decade of draft choices and free agents and each one has left with barely a yawn.
If he and Z both disappear within a year…long-tenured, underappreciated, significant parts of rebirths of franchises.
If he signs with the Dolphins, I’ll be disappointed.
Robbie…you can thank the Browns for not drafting Big Ben for a major portion of that suffering. As much of a turd as he is personally, I knew the Browns would be sorry the day they passed on him in favor of Kellen Winslow (also a ‘stand-up’ guy).
I just looked at that 2004 draft, and beyond Eli Manning, Rivers, Larry Fitzgerald, DeAngelo Hall, and #7, that draft was pretty bad overall.
It’s funny to recall though that the Browns got winslow by trading up one slot with with Detroit (they got Roy Williams).
If you had to do it all over again, would you go back to 1999 and buy a Phil Dawson jersey? Who knew he’d be the one constant on this team? Great guy, great kicker and a great loss to the team. Letting him walk really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Granted, he is looking at $3 million a year but he’s worth every penny when you look at how Rogers and Delhomme have stolen Randy Lerner’s money this year. When you look at what Cincinnati has gone thru in trying to replace Shayne Graham this year it makes Dawson look even more valuable.
MattyFos dislikes the Kellen Winslow bashing.
@ Reggie…you may be onto something. As much as RB’s and QB’s and WR’s bring the flash to an offense, the kicker often scores the majority of the points. Perhaps having a great kicker should be the #2 priority of every team (right behind starting QB).
Really, when you think about it, it’s pretty remarkable how often games come down to the kicker when you consider how much lower their salaries are when compared to other players on the team.
However, to answer your question, even with a time machine, I wouldn’t go back to ’99 and buy a Dawson jersey. If, in 1999, you told me, “I’ve just traveled back through time from the year 2010. You should buy a Phil Dawson jersey. In 11 years, he’ll be the only long-standing and most consistent member of this team,” I’d probably just start crying…especially after I ask you how many division titles they’ve won since returning to the league.
ive had my phil jersey for about 4 years now because i didnt want to waste my money on someone that would be irrelevant in a year…cough cough peyton hillis cough. the way they are abusing him but anyways if it happens to be his last one the organization is going to regret it for how much trouble is out there with kickers
C-bus,
If the Browns had drafted that QB he would be out of the league now just like Couch.
He is who he is as a player because his team’s defense scores a couple TD’s a game for him and sets him up with short fields 3-4 times a game.
I thought Clevelanders appreciated hard working blue collar guys who put their head down and go to work for their team no matter what. Here’s a guy who has played in Cleveland, CHOSE to play here no less, and wants to remain.
Where’s Phil Dawson’s “pay ‘da man” campaign?
Chris – there’s an asterisk on the appreciating hard working players things. It applies only to non-kickers.
@ 5KMD…I disagree to a degree. Part of #7’s success is due to his ability to avoid being sacked. He’s tough to take down with arm tackles and has shown good ability to scramble for big gains when needed. To say that he’s just been setup by a good defense over and over again is over-simplifying things.
Several years ago, the Browns had a pretty good defense (2002 I think), and they just kept kicking field goals. Even with a short field, a QB still needs to execute.
Hey guys, I’ve been helping Phil with his website PhilDawsonEdge.com (still not quite completed.) He sees all the comments there and I’m sure he’d appreciate hearing from you and other fans there.
If you could spread the word about the website, I’d sure appreciate it.
I live in Philly and have only been rooting for the Browns this year…oh, and how painful it has been. I have tremendous respect for loyal Browns fans.
C-bus,
We will respectfully agree to disagree then. I live in pittsburgh and am forced to watch all of his games by my wife and her family. If that guy played the first 3 quarters like he usually does on most teams, he’d be down by 3 scores and his brilliant “fourth quarter magic” would be a footnote.
I may be biased because he is a degenerate on the steelers but I would choose at least 10 other NFL QBs to start a team with before even thinking of him. It pains me that he is “credited” with 2 superbowl wins.
Kickers are often given a bad rap in football, especially from the linemen. That’s probably because they spend the least amount of time tackling, taking tackles, blocking, or running 100-meter sprints. They play more with their brains than with their brawn, and practice a totally different set of things from the rest of the team. So for people who watch football to enjoy the big hits, the kickers seem like worthless wimps.
That is, until you realize that punters are often responsible for more of field position than any other player, and placekickers score a ton of points from field goals and extra points.
I’ve always considering Philly D to one of, if not our best player (thanks Romeo) and it will be a sad day if he leaves.
Phil Dawson has been my favorite Brown for some time now – he’s been on the team since the rebirth and has been good every single year. Captain Clutch is a great nickname but I’ve been going with P-Diddy for a few years.
If he’s not re-signed some team will pick him up in about 60 seconds (e.g. Dallas, Cincinnati, Arizona, New Orleans, and other teams just this year that have had kicker issues) and we’ll have to watch him hit 80 to 90% of his attempts for another team. Just hopefully not Cincinnati.
Another note to his greatness. He also kicks field goals on Pittsburgh’s mockery of a field and makes them.
Can we rename the Cuyahoga to Dawson’s Creek in his honor?
Huh? @ 20. I agree there are teams out there that will pick Dawson up, but Jay Feely has made 28/28 PATs this year, and 24/27 field goals, for Arizona. (I didn’t check other teams; I just happen to know about AZ.) What made you include them?
Not looking forward to Phil kicking for another team. Surprised that H&H did not redo his deal but I’m guessing they have a plan b ready to go… hopefully.