Phil Dawson Philip Drury Dawson ( born January 23 , 1975 ) is an American football placekicker for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League ( NFL ) . He holds the franchise record for most field goals made , passing Hall of Famer Lou Groza in 2010 . He is the only player that has been on the roster every year since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999 . High school years . Dawson attended Lake Highlands High School in Dallas , Texas and was a letterman in football . In a 1992 playoff game at Texas Stadium against Nacogdoches High School , Dawson kicked a 52 - yard field goal as time expired to beat Nacogdoches 31 - 28 . He graduated in the class of 1993 ; the Modell Era Cleveland Browns placekicker Matt Stover attended the same high school , graduating in 1986 . As a senior , he was a starter at both kicker and offensive tackle until he hurt his knee in a preseason scrimmage . He thought he might have to have season ending surgery , but he gutted it out , stuck to kicking , and was named as an All - American and the Southwest Region Offensive Player of the Year by SuperPrep . College career . Dawson attended the University of Texas at Austin , where he was a four - year letterman in football . After redshirting his freshman year , he scored 80 points his first year of playing . He also tied a school record with 54 consecutive extra point s . The following season he made honorary All - America honors while leading the Longhorns in scoring . He made first - team All - America his junior and senior years , while simultaneously making All - Big 12 . He earned a B . A . in political science . Dawson is famous for his 1995 game - winning field goal against University of Virginia ; booting a 50 - yarder against a 30 - MPH wind to give Texas a dramatic 17 - 16 victory as time expired . Pro career . Dawson was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Oakland Raiders , who then waived him . He was picked up by the New England Patriots and assigned to the practice squad , but never appeared in a game for them . The Cleveland Browns signed him as a free agent in March 1999 , and he has remained with the team ever since ( and is the only player left from the 1999 squad ) . Dawson holds the team record for most consecutive field goals made ( 29 ) and most field goals in a game ( 6 ) . Dawson is currently the 7th most accurate kicker in the NFL . On October 10 , 2010 , Dawson tied Lou Groza for the Browns ' career field - goal record with 234 . The two are tied for 35th in NFL history . Dawson scored the first points in the history of the " new " Cleveland Browns in 1999 . On October 10 of that year , he scored the only touchdown of his career on a fake field goal against the Bengals in a 18 - 17 loss . His official career long was a 56 - yard field goal on November 17 , 2008 , which would prove to be the game - winner against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football . However , he did hit a 59 - yard field goal on an August 14 , 2010 preseason game . Dawson would have become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2010 season , but he was given the franchise tag on February 22 , keeping him for the 2011 season . Dawson launched PhilDawsonEdge . com to help coaches improve their special teams play and developing high school and college kicking specialists into clutch kickers through kicking camps . He is also a featured speaker at coaching clinics including the American Football Coaches Association Convention ( AFCA ) ] , Nike Coach of the Year Clinic , DFW Coaches Clinic and Alamo City Coaches Clinic . Unusual field goal . On November 18 , 2007 , Dawson attempted a 51 - yard field goal in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter to tie the game against the Baltimore Ravens . The kick carried through the air and hit the left upright and then the rear curved post ( stanchion ) , which bounced the football over the crossbar and into the end zone , in front of the goalpost . The kick was originally ruled no good . Under NFL rules , the play was not reviewable . Officials discussed the play among themselves for several minutes and decided that , since the ball had indeed crossed the crossbar within the goal , whatever happened afterward to the ball did not matter . The kick was considered good , as announced by referee Pete Morelli . However , as the play is not technically reviewable , referee Pete Morelli announced that the play was reversed " after discussion , " as opposed to " after further review , " as is usually stated . At this point the Ravens , already celebrating in the locker room ( they would have won 30 - 27 if the field goal was no good ) , were called back out onto the field to proceed to an overtime period . The Browns went on to win the game , 33 - 30 in overtime , as Dawson came through again with a more visible 33 - yard field goal . Phil Dawson finished 4 for 5 in FG ' s whereas fellow Lake Highlands High School alumnus Matt Stover finished with the Ravens 3 for 3 in FG ' s . Box Score Later in the season on December 16 , in driving snow and wind gusts up to 40 mph , Dawson kicked another field goal , an improbable 49 - yarder , that hit the same center support bar . This field goal helped the Browns achieve an 8 - 0 win over the Buffalo Bills in blizzard conditions . Hitting this same structure twice in the same season has led some members of the Cleveland press to begin referring to the support bar as " The Dawson Bar . " Prior to the 2008 season , the rule was changed to allow field goal and extra point attempts that hit the uprights or crossbar to be reviewed . This new rule is dubbed the " Phil Dawson Rule . " Personal . Dawson resides in Austin , Texas with his wife , Shannon , and sons , Dru ( born 4 / 13 / 01 ) and Beau ( 4 / 28 / 03 ) , and daughter Sophiann ( 6 / 23 / 06 ) . Dawson kicks right - footed but throws left - handed .