Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Ex-Husker Brown gets his kicks on Seattle's Super Bowl run
BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
Not many people can empty a town by giving everybody around tickets to the Super Bowl, but Josh Brown is going to make a dent in the population of Foyil, Okla. “I had to come up with 15 tickets for my sisters, my folks, my brother and a bunch of nieces and nephews,” said Brown, the kicker for the Seattle Seahawks. “I’ve gotten a lot of requests from people I haven’t talked to in 10 years or so, but we’re only allotted so many for the team and each player.”
Still, if the former Husker could bring the entire town of 234 people, and a bunch of his friends from Lincoln and NU, he’d try.
“This is unbelievable and I don’t know if I truly understand what it means to be in the Super Bowl,” Brown said. “I am a different kicker than I was in college, and I think I’ve played an important role with this great team.
“I don’t worry about what might happen, how hard a kick is from a particular part of the field or any of that other stuff that really bothered me when I was in college. I have matured and I practice hard, with high-quality practices and I have so much more confidence than I ever had before.”
Seattle Seahawks' kicker and former Husker Josh Brown (right) celebrates with fans after the 34-14 defeat of the Carolina Panthers Sunday in Seattle.(AP Photo)
His successes have helped form a bond with head coach Mike Holmgren.
“He’s got a reputation as a hard-nosed guy who has issues with kickers, but we have gotten along and I think I’ve earned his respect,” Brown said. Holmgren has said during the season that he has plenty of confidence in Brown in any situation.
The former NU kicker (1999-2002) was an all-everything player for his eight-man high school team. He was a running back, kicker, punter and leading tackler. At Nebraska, he was an All-Big 12 kicker as a senior, when he scored 88 points by hitting 14 of 18 field-goal attempts and all 46 extra-point attempts that year.
“He was extremely talented. He had a very strong leg,” said former NU assistant Dan Young, who worked with the Husker kickers. “His accuracy in college wasn’t quite as good as Kris Brown, but I thought he had a lot of raw talent.”
The eighth pick in the seventh and final round of the 2003 NFL Draft, Brown went on to make the Seahawks’ roster and set a team rookie scoring record with 114 points. He hit 22 of 30 field-goal attempts and was good on all 48 extra-point tries. He even kicked a 58-yard field goal.
Last season, he was successful on 23 of 35 field-goal attempts, finished with 109 points, had a 54-yard field goal and even punted once when teammate Tom Rouen was injured.
This season, Brown has been successful on 18 of 25 field-goal attempts, including a 4-for-5 mark from 30 to 39 yards and 5-for-8 mark from 50 yards and farther. He also kicked game winners against the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
“The thing about Josh,” Young said, “is the pressure doesn’t seem to get to him.”
A week ago, Brown extended his playoff kicking mark to four field goals and 6-for-7 on extra points. He even had one “rugby” punt on a fake 53-yard field goal that landed on the Carolina 9-yard line.
“We practice that kick every Thursday and it was better than the first time I tried it earlier this season when it went to the 13-yard line,” Brown said. “Mike Holmgren tells just me and the snapper to run ‘55’ and that means the running punt to catch the other team off-guard. It works.”
Brown’s Seattle teammate, former Husker All-American Grant Wistrom, said he is proud of Brown’s accomplishments, but laughed and added:
“He’s a kicker. That’s about the only story he can tell. Otherwise, it’s snap the ball, hold the ball, kick it. I hope there’s more to football than that.”
Brown said he has gotten to know Wistrom better since the defensive end, who played in two Super Bowls with St. Louis, joined the Seahawks two seasons ago.
“Grant’s got a fiancee and a son and a home life, and I’m just a single guy, playing football and having fun in Seattle,” he said. “We have group gatherings at his house now and then. But he’s all business on this team, and that’s why he’s such a great leader for our defense.
“Everybody here really appreciates what he has done and what he can do for this team, and I’m happy to be a part of it,” he said.
As for kicking inside Detroit’s Ford Field against Pittsburgh on Feb. 5, Brown said he is simply happy to be kicking anywhere in February.
“Inside will be nice because I’m sure Detroit is not a beach scene in February, but I’m just happy to kick anywhere,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a great advantage to kicking indoors but who knows? I won’t have to play that hook or that slice I have to play into the winds sometimes.”
BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
Not many people can empty a town by giving everybody around tickets to the Super Bowl, but Josh Brown is going to make a dent in the population of Foyil, Okla. “I had to come up with 15 tickets for my sisters, my folks, my brother and a bunch of nieces and nephews,” said Brown, the kicker for the Seattle Seahawks. “I’ve gotten a lot of requests from people I haven’t talked to in 10 years or so, but we’re only allotted so many for the team and each player.”
Still, if the former Husker could bring the entire town of 234 people, and a bunch of his friends from Lincoln and NU, he’d try.
“This is unbelievable and I don’t know if I truly understand what it means to be in the Super Bowl,” Brown said. “I am a different kicker than I was in college, and I think I’ve played an important role with this great team.
“I don’t worry about what might happen, how hard a kick is from a particular part of the field or any of that other stuff that really bothered me when I was in college. I have matured and I practice hard, with high-quality practices and I have so much more confidence than I ever had before.”
Seattle Seahawks' kicker and former Husker Josh Brown (right) celebrates with fans after the 34-14 defeat of the Carolina Panthers Sunday in Seattle.(AP Photo)
His successes have helped form a bond with head coach Mike Holmgren.
“He’s got a reputation as a hard-nosed guy who has issues with kickers, but we have gotten along and I think I’ve earned his respect,” Brown said. Holmgren has said during the season that he has plenty of confidence in Brown in any situation.
The former NU kicker (1999-2002) was an all-everything player for his eight-man high school team. He was a running back, kicker, punter and leading tackler. At Nebraska, he was an All-Big 12 kicker as a senior, when he scored 88 points by hitting 14 of 18 field-goal attempts and all 46 extra-point attempts that year.
“He was extremely talented. He had a very strong leg,” said former NU assistant Dan Young, who worked with the Husker kickers. “His accuracy in college wasn’t quite as good as Kris Brown, but I thought he had a lot of raw talent.”
The eighth pick in the seventh and final round of the 2003 NFL Draft, Brown went on to make the Seahawks’ roster and set a team rookie scoring record with 114 points. He hit 22 of 30 field-goal attempts and was good on all 48 extra-point tries. He even kicked a 58-yard field goal.
Last season, he was successful on 23 of 35 field-goal attempts, finished with 109 points, had a 54-yard field goal and even punted once when teammate Tom Rouen was injured.
This season, Brown has been successful on 18 of 25 field-goal attempts, including a 4-for-5 mark from 30 to 39 yards and 5-for-8 mark from 50 yards and farther. He also kicked game winners against the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
“The thing about Josh,” Young said, “is the pressure doesn’t seem to get to him.”
A week ago, Brown extended his playoff kicking mark to four field goals and 6-for-7 on extra points. He even had one “rugby” punt on a fake 53-yard field goal that landed on the Carolina 9-yard line.
“We practice that kick every Thursday and it was better than the first time I tried it earlier this season when it went to the 13-yard line,” Brown said. “Mike Holmgren tells just me and the snapper to run ‘55’ and that means the running punt to catch the other team off-guard. It works.”
Brown’s Seattle teammate, former Husker All-American Grant Wistrom, said he is proud of Brown’s accomplishments, but laughed and added:
“He’s a kicker. That’s about the only story he can tell. Otherwise, it’s snap the ball, hold the ball, kick it. I hope there’s more to football than that.”
Brown said he has gotten to know Wistrom better since the defensive end, who played in two Super Bowls with St. Louis, joined the Seahawks two seasons ago.
“Grant’s got a fiancee and a son and a home life, and I’m just a single guy, playing football and having fun in Seattle,” he said. “We have group gatherings at his house now and then. But he’s all business on this team, and that’s why he’s such a great leader for our defense.
“Everybody here really appreciates what he has done and what he can do for this team, and I’m happy to be a part of it,” he said.
As for kicking inside Detroit’s Ford Field against Pittsburgh on Feb. 5, Brown said he is simply happy to be kicking anywhere in February.
“Inside will be nice because I’m sure Detroit is not a beach scene in February, but I’m just happy to kick anywhere,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a great advantage to kicking indoors but who knows? I won’t have to play that hook or that slice I have to play into the winds sometimes.”
