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Monday, September 30, 2024

Bubba Ventrone Reveals New Story About Phil Dawson's Capabilities

 




Story by Browns Nation

September 27, 2024



















Years after he became the organization’s second all-time scorer, Cleveland made official what fans had felt for over a decade: kicker Phil Dawson deserved to be recognized as a Browns Legend.

Dawson – along with longtime play-by-play broadcaster Jim Donovan – were inducted last week as the 2024 class of Browns Legends during the team’s home contest against the New York Giants.

Since first being announced this summer, fans and former teammates have shared stories about Dawson as his abilities on the field were among the best in the NFL.

During his press conference on Thursday, special teams coach Bubba Ventrone – who was Dawson’s teammate – recalled a unique story about Dawson’s capabilities on the field.

Analyst Camryn Justice summarized his story on X, noting that Dawson could choose from one of six varieties of onside kicks and used signals on the field to alert teammates to which one he would employ.



“Ventrone said that they had ‘Dawson Six Pack’ t-shirts made back then,” Justice wrote on X.

Dawson was a unique talent, unlike anything the NFL has seen in recent years.

The kicker started his NFL career in the 1999 season, coinciding with the Browns’ rebirth.

Dawson played 14 years with the Browns, making 305 of his 363 field goals attempted during that time.

The placekicker made 24 field goals from 50-plus yards, a record he still holds for the Browns.

After his time in Cleveland, Dawson played six more years – four with the San Francisco 49ers and two with the Arizona Cardinals. 

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Jim Souhan: Katie Smith helped Lynx duo break her record

 




Story by Jim Souhan, The Minnesota Star Tribune












Associate head coach Katie Smith of the Minnesota Lynx yells to players during a game against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob ULTRA Arena on June 19, 2022, in Las Vegas.© Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America/TNS

 

MINNEAPOLIS — Sometimes, she puts a hand in their face. Sometimes, she rebounds. Always, she needles, cajoles, jokes.

“Sometimes,” Katie Smith said, “I think the best defense of all is to make them laugh.”

For an hour before most every Minnesota Lynx practice, Smith, the team’s associate head coach, works on shooting with Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton, among others.

Smith helped both surpass her team record for most made three-pointers in a season, as they transformed the way the Lynx play offense.

“I have the easiest job in practice,” Smith said with a smile. “I rebound for them. Which means taking the ball out of the net.”

Carleton and McBride have long been considered modern 3-and-D players — meaning they could shoot three-pointers and excel on defense. Alanna Smith was a late-blooming post who neither frequently shot nor frequently made three-pointers.

Want to know why the Lynx have exceeded expectations and enter the WNBA playoffs as the No. 2 seed?

The excellence of Napheesa Collier and the savvy of point guard Courtney Williams rank high, but the biggest change has been in three-point shooting.

This season, Carleton and McBride were the two best volume three-point shooters on the team that led the WNBA in three-point percentage, at 38.0%. Last year, the Lynx finished 11th in the 12-team league at 32.5%.

Alanna Smith entered this season with a career three-point percentage of 24.9% and easily set a career best by making 39.8% in 2024. Reserve Cecilia Zandalasini returned to the WNBA for the first time since 2018. Her career three-point percentage was 38.3% entering 2024, when she made 44.3%.

With Collier operating near the paint and Williams excelling at clutch two-pointers, Carleton, McBride and Smith became proficient at the most effective play in basketball.

What was it like for Katie Smith to help players break her record? “It’s awesome,” said Smith, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and five-time All-Star with the Lynx, speaking animatedly after practice Saturday. “They’re such a joy to work with. First of all, they’re great shooters, but it’s kind of fun to nitpick and build their confidence and how they can exploit defenses. At the end of the day, I just want them to keep shooting.”

Smith dropped a coaching phrase: “shot credibility.” Being able to make three-pointers offers the obvious benefit of maximizing the scoring potential of a possession, as well as the secondary benefit of forcing defenses to scramble wildly to cover players 25 or 30 feet from the basket, stretching defensive concepts and defenders’ lung capacities.

“Shot credibility is huge, and creates so many other things for them,” Smith said. “I’m so lucky to work with them. They’re just such great people. They work so hard, and they bring a lot of joy. I just want them to have the utmost confidence in every situation.”

A season of sharpshooting culminated when Carleton confidently swished a 34-foot three-pointer in the waning seconds to beat Connecticut on Tuesday and secure the No. 2 seed.

Carleton took a pass from Collier, who was asking for a return pass. Carleton turned and shot with confidence, and only later realized just how far she had been from the basket.

This season, Carleton produced career bests in points (9.6) and minutes (29.9) per game. What’s interesting is that while she improved her three-point shooting percentage from 33.7% last year to 44.4%, she didn’t match her career best in that category — 45.7% in 2020, the last year the Lynx advanced to the league semifinals.

In McBride’s first 10 years in the league, she had made the All-Rookie team and three All-Star teams. She was coming off a 2023 season in which she made 34.2% of her three-point shots, tied for her lowest mark since 2017.

This year, she made better than 40% of her three-pointers (40.7%) for the second time in her career and first time since 2019.

“We love coming to work with Katie,” McBride said. “She’s a Hall of Famer, so everything she says, we take to heart.”

____

©2024 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 


Monday, September 23, 2024

How Jimmy Donovan, Phil Dawson reflected the heart of Browns fans – Terry Pluto

 















Phil Dawson kicked for the Browns in their first 14 years since coming back as an expansion team in 1999. John Kuntz, cleveland.com


By Terry Pluto, cleveland.com

Published: Sep. 22, 2024, 5:49 a.m.


CLEVELAND, Ohio – For some of us, the Browns began with Paul Brown, Jim Brown and then moved into the middle 1960s with Blanton Collier and the 1964 title team.

Or the Browns began in the 1980s, with Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar and teams that made the playoffs, year after year.

It’s been 35 years since the Browns had back-to-back winning seasons (1986-89). That means you have to be in your mid- 40s to remember those days.

But there is another group of Browns fans, almost a lost generation. They’re younger. They came later. The only Browns they know opened with the heart break of the move ... then the “new Browns,” the expansion Browns in 1999.

I thought about them when the Browns introduced Phil Dawson and Jimmy Donovan into their Legends Club.










Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken doing the Browns game in 1999, the first year back as an expansion franchise.

How it started

Dawson and Donovan, a kicker and a radio broadcaster.

Dawson had been cut by three teams in 1998. He made the Browns near the end of training camp in 1999. It was the expansion year.

Dawson still remembers former coach Chris Palmer saying, “I guess we’ll start with you.” Not exactly a comforting endorsement. He often mentioned how he knew “My next kick could be my last kick.”

It’s that way it’s for many NFL kickers. But Dawson lasted 14 years in Cleveland. The Browns prematurely cut him. He never wanted to leave Cleveland. Dawson kicked for six more years with two other teams.

Donovan auditioned for the radio job, competing with several other local broadcasters. He was selected and paired with Doug Dieken. They were the radio voices of the Browns for more than two decades.










Ahead of the Cleveland Air Show, Browns radio play-by-play man Jim Donovan announced he's going off the air to fight chronic cancer.Jeff Darcy/Cleveland.com
















The best phone call

Donovan had to give up the radio duties a few weeks before the 2024 season opened. He’s battled leukemia and cancer since 2010. He’s in a major fight now and isn’t healthy enough to attend Sunday’s game.

At his press conference, Dawson talked about Donovan calling all his Browns games.

“I can’t think of anyone better to go in with,” said Dawson. “It’s an honor. I call him a friend. He’s going through a lot right now on the personal side.”

The Browns had Dawson call Donovan with the news of the team honoring the broadcaster.

“Having the chance to make that phone call and bring joy to a friend takes this to a whole new level,” said Dawson.

The kicker and the radio broadcaster have a special place in the hearts of fans. I asked for their thoughts on my Facebook page.










In the wind and cold, nobody kicked better than Phil Dawson. The Plain Dealer

The first memories

“Having been born in the late 1990′s, some of my first memories of the Browns are of Jim Donovan on the radio announcing Phil Dawson’s kicks. It was one of the constants through those lean years. It’s definitely the end of an era now that Jimmy and Doug (Dieken) are both retired. Glad to see Phil get the recognition he deserves as well.” - Thomas Mendiola

“I was born in the mid 1990′s. I have only ever known Jim Donovan’s voice. When I couldn’t watch the game, I genuinely would get excited to listen to it on the radio. Jim Donovan and the Cleveland Browns go hand and hand. The Ravens have now have Justin Tucker. That’s what we had in Phil Dawson. We never had to worry! I wish he could have spent his entire career in Cleveland! He is the player that reminds me of my childhood Cleveland Browns! - Ben Marzano

Phil Dawson was gold for many years. The fans always knew he was steady in those Lake Erie winds. My favorite memory is his game winning kick in the blizzard game against the Bills. Jim Donovan was the only voice I knew growing up as a Browns fan. My Dad used to bring his ear phones just to listen to his play calling even while we were at the games.

“I’ll always remember his words as the Browns finally made it to the Playoffs during Covid in 2020: ‘The only thing that is missing, is all of you.’” – Brittany Kilbourne









Very few people know the extent of Jim Donovan's fight with cancer since 2000.The Plain Dealer

A special memory

“I have witnessed the utter decency of Jim Donovan. A few years back, I was having dinner at the bar in Parallax in Tremont. Donovan, his wife, and another couple were seated at one of the bar tables, having dinner. The bus boy came to their table and mistakenly poured tap water into Donovan’s glass, which had contained expensive bottled water. Rather than lash out at the young man, Jimmy patted him on the back and told him not to worry. Perhaps not a huge thing, but nonetheless an act of human kindness and decency. I was especially impressed, as the bus boy was my son, Lenny.” - Daniel Klonowski

The voice, the memories

“Jimmy’s voice gives me the chills just like Nev Chandler’s voice did. Being Cleveland fans we may be experienced in heartbreak, but we have had some of the best commentators in all of professional sports. Phil was the only thing we had to be proud of for years (besides Joe Thomas). How many games did most, if not all of our points come from his foot alone? Jimmy and Phil were definitely bright spots. Good luck to Jimmy in his fight against cancer.” – Jessica Barnett

“Jimmy’s voice, his cadence, and the ease in which he called the Browns games painted a picture that made me feel like I was at the game. The way he did his job didn’t matter if the Browns had a winning or losing team. His passion for Cleveland sports was ever present – yet he was realistic about the team’s challenges. I value his honest assessment. I am missing him each and every Sunday.” – Colleen Kenney Roach

Phil and Jim always provided rays of light during some pretty dark times. Not ashamed to say that some of Jim’s calls over the years brought tears to my eyes. Thanks Phil and Jimmy.” – Tim O’Hara

“Every once in a while, the Powers That Be get something right. Jimmy and Phil came up together, and they deserve to be honored together. They both exemplify what Browns Town is all about. No matter what else happens this season, THIS will be the highlight of the year. P.S. I cried! – Valerie Takacs










The Browns said goodbye to Phil Dawson too soon. He played in Cleveland for 14 years, then kicked for six more in the NFL. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

Two class acts

Jim Donovan and Phil Dawson are shining examples of character, responsibility, loyalty and hard work. Phil could always be counted on to come through with the kick we needed. His professionalism is rare in today’s world. Jim somehow managed to call the games with accuracy and positivity; not an easy feat. His ability to remain positive and never complain despite battling cancer for two decades is amazing. His retirement brings tears to my eyes.– Jeanne Cooper

“Jim Donovan was always electric. No matter the Browns record, he gave us his full energy. He was made for Cleveland Browns football. My Dad has the same leukemia as Jim. He is doing well, God bless both of them. In 1999 and coming back, you couldn’t walk anywhere without seeing that #4 Phil Dawson jersey. He was one Brown we could always count on as he was automatic.” – Steve Retzer

“I got very emotional and just thought for sure two of the greats of my time as a season ticket holder for 39 years.” – Keri Miller

“Dad taught me about football at age 10 ... I’m 66 Never waivered from my loyalties to the Browns teams through the ages. Only ever listened to Jim Donovan’s voice AND always knew Phil Dawson would be spot on with nearly every kick. Nothing like it, or probably ever again in my lifetime. I cried, especially for Jimmy Donovan.” – Laureen Spring


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