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Veteran kicker, only one on Cleveland roster since team's return in 1999, is finally seeing victories
Published on Sunday, Nov 25, 2007
CLEVELAND: A national television interview kept Phil Dawson on the field last Sunday in Baltimore much longer than normal. When it was over, he kissed his wife, Shannon, scooped up their 6-year-old son, Dru, and headed to the locker room, totally unprepared for the scene that awaited him.
Dru was attending his first game and Phil wanted to introduce him around, but expected half of the players to be showered, dressed and gone. Instead, he opened the door to find coach Romeo Crennel and his teammates waiting for him. They hadn't conducted the prayer or started their post-game speeches.
''That means a great deal,'' Dawson said. ''Next to having my son there, that's probably the highlight of my career.''
Shannon Dawson said that when her husband met her at the team bus, the first thing he said was, ''I can't believe they waited for me.''
''Phil is not a crier,'' Shannon said. ''But little things mean a lot to him. You could not have given him a better gift or words of encouragement. That spoke volumes to him.''
Dawson isn't used to being considered part of the team. He joked last week that radio analyst Doug Dieken still calls him ''kicker.'' There have been times when observers wondered whether he had the right stuff, but it rarely mattered, because the Browns were floundering.
But Dawson's finest hour came in the 33-30 overtime victory in Baltimore. The Browns received a miraculous second chance when his 51-yard, game-tying field-goal attempt hit the left upright, then the curved connector behind the crossbar before bouncing back onto the field. It was initially ruled no good, but referee Pete Morelli changed the call, going on the strong recommendation of back judge Keith Ferguson.
Dawson sent the game into the extra period and ended it, recording his 10th game-winning field goal by drilling a 33-yarder. He'd missed from 35 yards in the first quarter.
Dawson would have had good reason to break down afterward. There was the emotion of Dru's first game, the date for the weekend-with-Mommy road trip chosen by Dru himself. There was the difficult delivery of the Dawsons' third child, Sophiann, in June 2006, when Dawson nearly had to choose whether his wife or daughter would live. While both survived, Dawson still cannot talk about what happened.
And there was the misery Dawson has endured in nine seasons with the Browns. He's the only player on the roster who has been in Cleveland since 1999. Going into this year, he'd played for three coaches, endured Bottlegate and Helmetgate, Couch vs. Holcomb and 88 losses.
Now the Browns are 6-4 and battling for a wild-card playoff berth, and he's been a major part, with four games coming down to last-second kicks. Two were game winners (against the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens), one fell short (at Pittsburgh) and one was blocked (at Oakland).
''To have a victory like Sunday, at least he got to see that,'' Shannon said. ''That's been his fear, that he wasn't going to be here long enough to see the team get turned around.''
Asked about that fear, Dawson said: ''I had my moments, but you can't do that. We all have doubts in life. You've got to keep plugging away and trust the guys around you.''
The doubts came flooding in during the 2003 season. With five of his nine years producing five victories or fewer, it was hard for Dawson to pick the low point, but he settled on that one, when Cleveland followed up its only playoff appearance since the Browns' rebirth with a 5-11 season. In February, coach Butch Davis found the team in salary-cap jail and cut all three starting linebackers, Dwayne Rudd, Earl Holmes and Jamir Miller, and team leaders Corey Fuller and Dave Wohlabaugh. Then during training camp came the Tim Couch-Kelly Holcomb quarterback controversy.
''We felt like we were building and going in the right direction,'' Dawson said. ''Then we regrouped and almost started over. That was pretty rough. This league is a tough business when you don't win games.''
Shannon Dawson said there have been many rough Sunday nights. That was the case even on Nov. 11, when Dawson's 52-yard, game-tying attempt at Pittsburgh fell a couple yards short. No one faulted Dawson for the kick that was out of his range on the poor footing at Heinz Field.
''The Pittsburgh kick, I saw (the effects) for the whole week. I didn't know how many back-flips and rah-rah cheers it was going to take from me to get him up,'' Shannon said. ''He takes it so personal. He felt he let the city down, the coaches, the players, Mr. (Randy) Lerner down. Phil is not going to pass blame. If it's his fault, he takes it.''
While he agonizes over his misses, Shannon said the revolving door of coaches, players and busted draft picks also had to take their toll on her husband.
''He's like, 'If somebody gives us a chance and leads us, we'll follow,''' she said. ''He feels like that with coach Crennel. Phil is the type person who believes a good leader surrounds himself with good people. Coach Crennel has surrounded himself with good coaches, good players, it trickles down and builds confidence as well. That's an important aspect to the whole equation.''
But Dawson said the biggest difference he's seen in 2007 is a sense of accountability.
''No one expected us to do anything this year,'' Dawson said. ''The coaches are doing a great job, but at the end of the day, the players are holding each other accountable, are taking a sense of ownership in this thing, and it's exciting to be a part of it.''
With so many games coming down to last-second kicks, Shannon Dawson said she's going to start bringing brown paper bags so she doesn't hyperventilate. But she's thrilled that she and Dru were in Baltimore to see the ending that might define Dawson's career.
She said Dru didn't fully comprehend how special Sunday was until it was over.
''On Monday, when I picked him up from school, he remembered every player, every person he met. He said, 'That Mr. Jim Brown, tell me again . . . ' He wanted to know what their purpose was and who they were,'' she said. ''I said, 'That's the greatest football player you'll ever meet,' and he goes, 'Wow.' One day he'll really appreciate it.''
After nine years of sad Sundays, the Dawsons already appreciate what they have.
''When Phil would come home after nine years, he'd say, 'If we could just get it turned around for these fans,''' Shannon said. ''Sometimes, I don't watch the game. I observe people in the stands. I see the passion in their eyes and in their hearts. They're so hungry for it.
''When Sunday came down the way it did, for myself and my son to witness it, it felt like the curse had been broken. You could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was such a nice feeling.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
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