The Browns are set to honor one of their best players in the team’s new era during the coming season.
Cleveland announced on Tuesday that kicker Phil Dawson has been named to the 2024 class of Browns Legends.
He will be honored in a Week 3 halftime ceremony when the Browns play the Giants.
“I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t ever dream about it,” Dawson said, via Kelsey Russo of the team’s website. “You see these things through the years, and you get to know some of these former players, and you look up to them, and you start dreaming like, man, I want to be one of those guys someday. And that certainly was me. And it’s not about me. I want to represent the Browns and to have a chance to come back home and be recognized like this is about as humbling recognition as I’ve ever received, and it’s all because of the way I love Cleveland and I love the Browns organization.
“So, it’s as impactful of recognition as I’ve ever received and it just kind of blows me away, to be honest.”
Dawson signed with the Browns in 1999 and won the kicking job during training camp. He ended up playing 14 seasons for the Browns, registering 305 field goals and 358 extra points for the club.
Dawson then kicked for San Francisco for four years before spending his final two seasons with Arizona.
While he last played for the Browns in 2012, Dawson holds the team records for most career field goals, highest career field goal percentage (84.0 percent), highest field goal percentage in a season (93.5 percent), most field goals in a single game (six), most consecutive field goals made (29), and most consecutive games with a field goal (23)
“I was very fortunate that I had a long run in one place,” Dawson said. “A lot of guys in the league these days don’t have that. So, because of my 14 years there, I was really able to build relationships and develop a love for the city of Cleveland. It became a home for my family. We were plugged in.
“And so, as I look back on the whole thing, just the relationships I was able to build and then my love for the city — I really felt a connection with the people of Cleveland. I was one of them. It was my home. And I was very fortunate to be able to be in one place long enough for those things to happen.”