Bob Stoops voted best coach in Big 12 history

November 26th, 2010

By Shawn S. Lealos, Oklahoma Sooners Examiner

The Associated Press released its list of the best football players in Big 12 history and the Oklahoma Sooners finished with seven players on the list.

The players were chosen by 20 voters from newspapers in the seven Big 12 states. Oklahoma voters included Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World, John Shinn of the Norman Transcript and Jake Trotter of The Oklahoman.

Additionally, Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops was nearly the unanimous choice as the best coach in Big 12 history. Stoops finished with 18 votes, compared to one each for Mack Brown and Bill Snyder.

Oklahoma offensive players include running back Adrian Peterson and offensive lineman Jammal Brown.

Peterson, currently playing for the Minnesota Vikings, finished his career at Oklahoma with 4,045 yards in three seasons. He was the runner up to the Heisman trophy in his freshman year and Minnesota drafted him with the seventh pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Offensive tackle Jammal Brown played for Oklahoma from 2001-2004. Brown was a two-time All-American (2003, 2004) and was the fifth Oklahoma Sooners player to win the Outland Trophy, awarded to the best interior lineman.

Defensive players chosen include Tommie Harris, Rocky Calmus, Teddy Lehman, Roy Williams and Derrick Strait.

Defensive tackle Tommie Harris finished his Oklahoma career with 96 tackles and nine sacks. He was the third Oklahoma Sooners player to win the Lombardi Award in 2003.

Linebacker Rocky Calmus was one of the anchors of the 2000 National Championship team. As a senior, he won the Dick Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker. By graduation, Calmus was the Oklahoma Sooners’ All-Time leader in tackles for a loss by a linebacker.

Linebacker Teddy Lehman had a lot to live up to following Calmus at the position but it all paid off as Lehman won the Butkus Award in 2003. He finished his four-year career at Oklahoma with 329 tackles and five interceptions.

Safety Roy Williams was responsible for one of the most memorable plays in Oklahoma Sooners history when he leapt through the air and swatted the ball out of Texas quarterback Chris Sims hands to give Oklahoma the win in 2001. He won the Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defender in 2001 and finished seventh in the Heisman voting.

Cornerback Derrick Strait played for Oklahoma for four years, including the national championship year of 2000. He won the Jim Thorpe award in 2003 for the best defensive back in the country. Strait finished his career at Oklahoma with 270 tackles and 14 interceptions.

Other Oklahoma Sooners who received votes include Jon Cooper (1), Duke Robinson (3), Trent Williams (2), Phil Loadholt (1), Mark Clayton (3), Ryan Broyles (1), Jermaine Gresham (3), Sam Bradford (1), Gerald McCoy (4), Jeremy Beal (1), Dan Cody (1), Rufus Alexander (2) and Curtis Lofton (1).

Dawson drills another big kick for victory

Terry Pluto's postgame scribbles as the Browns look for a few more wins this season

November 29, 2010

By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Some postgame scribbles after Sunday's nervous finish to a game the Browns should have won easily:

There is no one in the NFL -- no one -- who I'd rather see kicking in the wind and cold of Browns Stadium with a game on the line than Phil Dawson, who drilled that 41-yarder for the victory. Dawson has missed only one attempt under 50 yards this season. Meanwhile, Carolina's usually reliable John Kasay missed from 46 and 42 yards in the second half -- proving these kicks are much harder than Dawson makes them look.

Dawson boots another game winner

By Brian Dulik

November 29th, 2010

CLEVELAND — The Browns have shown no inclination to extend Phil Dawson’s contract, which expires at the end of the season.

Perhaps it’s time to rethink that position.

Dawson made his 13th career game-winning field goal — splitting the uprights from 41 yards out with 2:42 left in regulation — to give Cleveland a 24-23 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

“Phil is the best kicker in the league, plain and simple, and the best I’ve ever played with,” said punter Reggie Hodges, who also serves as Dawson’s holder.

“I spent a year in New York, where the winds are kind of tricky, but this is the toughest spot in the NFL to kick. It’s just amazing how well he knows the conditions here and how to respond to them.”


Dawson, who joined the Browns as a rookie free agent in 1999, is 9-of-10 (90 percent) on home field goal attempts this season. The six visiting teams at Cleveland Browns Stadium are just 12-of-19 (63 percent).

The latter figure includes a 3-of-5 performance by Panthers kicker John Kasay, whose 42-yard try as time expired clanged off the left upright — and allowed Cleveland to escape with the one-point triumph.

“(Kasay) is a good kicker, but not every kicker can be Phil Dawson,” Browns wide receiver Joshua Cribbs said. “Phil is like Old Faithful. We know he’s going to get the job done.”

Ironically, Dawson said he wasn’t sure he was going convert his game-winning attempt. He had missed two field goals in Jacksonville one week earlier and had only been called upon to try three extra points against Carolina.

“I was certainly uncomfortable because I hadn’t touched the ball in the second half (on a kickoff, extra point or field goal),” said Dawson, whose .831 career field goal percentage ranks ninth in NFL history. “The field also was an issue today with the lack of footing, and the ball was just kind of dying in the air.”

Making the try even more tenuous, Ryan Pontbriand’s snap to Hodges was high, but he fielded it cleanly and placed it down in time for Dawson to keep his normal rhythm.

“That’s when you’ve got to trust your preparation and ignore your emotions,” Dawson said. “Reggie did a great job on the hold and I was fortunate to get it in.”