Former NFL Kicker Phil Dawson, Current HS Football Coach, Still Banging 55-Yarders At 48 Years Old

Phil Dawson spent 20 years in the NFL. He kicked for the Cleveland Browns for 14 years from 1999-2012. Then, he played four years in San Francisco before finishing his career with a two-year stint in Arizona.

Dawson played in over 300 career NFL games and made 441 career field goals. He retired after the 2018 season with an 84% career field goal percentage.

Phil Dawson of the Cleveland Browns kicks a field goal against the Oakland Raiders during an NFL game on December 2, 2012 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Plus, one of the more famous field goals in NFL history involved Dawson and the Browns. In a 2007 game against the Baltimore Ravens, Dawson came on for a game-tying field goal with just seconds left in the fourth quarter.

His kick hit the left upright, went through the goalposts, then hit the curved stanchion that holds the posts in place. The ball took a weird bounce off the stanchion and actually went back THROUGH the goal posts.

The referees ruled the field go no good and the Ravens celebrated their victory and headed to their locker room.

However, the referees got together and ruled that the ball legally went through the goal posts -- which it did -- and it didn't matter what happened after that. They ruled the field good and forced the Ravens to come back to the field to play overtime. The Browns won the game in OT -- fittingly, on a Phil Dawson field goal.

Prior to that, the league's replay rules did not consider field goals as reviewable plays. However, that situation caused the league to change the rule. The rules is often referred to as "The Phil Dawson Rule."

So, Dawson left his mark on the NFL. Now, he coaches high school football in Texas. He's the head coach of the Hyde Park Panthers in Austin.

But the 48-year-old can still boot it. And he recently showed that off.

Kickers are always in demand in the NFL. Is there a team that would give Dawson a shot? Would he take it or is he happy coaching high school football?

So many questions left to be answered! One thing is for sure, though. If he wanted to return to the Cleveland Browns, he'd have to change numbers.

He wore #4 for 14 seasons in Cleveland. But quarterback Deshaun Watson now dons that digit.

Dawson is the greatest Browns player to wear the number four. Can Deshaun Watson unseat him?

The journey for that title begins this season with expectations high for Watson and the Browns.