BEREA — Kickers can be here one kick, gone the next in the NFL. That’s even for kickers who have a track record in the league.
A kicker like Andre Szmyt, who had no track record whatsoever four months ago, can be even more disposable. That’s especially true when the Cleveland Browns kicker’s introduction to the league went the way his did 17 weeks ago, when a missed point-after kick and a even-worse missed 36-yard field goal led directly to a season-opening 17-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
And, yet, as the Browns head to Cincinnati for their season finale, Szmyt remains the Browns’ kicker. Not only has he remained in his role, he has thrived.
“I mean, I owe this franchise my life,” Szmyt told the Beacon Journal Dec. 31. “I owe them everything and I hope I’m here for life. It really does mean a lot that they stuck with me. I mean, after Week 1, they know everything that’s going on in personal life, too. And they know, one, it’s a challenge to play in the NFL in and of itself, especially this position with the mental battle, but then also with everything else that’s going on in your personal life. I mean, they knew I could handle it.”
It had been a long journey for Szmyt to get to that moment on a sunny September Sunday. It was a journey of professional ups and downs, none of which could’ve matched the personal ones just two months before that day when his mother, Lala, died of a brain aneurysm on July 10.
And, yet, in the face of massive pushback from fans and media, the Browns stuck by Szmyt. And the kicker rewarded that confidence with a strong debut season in which the 27-year-old has made 22 of 25 field goals and 23 of 24 PATs.
Or, over the last 15 games, 21 of 23 field goals and 22 of 22 PATs.
“I mean, it’s that mental toughness,” Browns punter Corey Bojorquez, who serves as Szmyt’s holder, told the Beacon Journal Dec. 31. “You hear about it a lot, but I feel like that’s a case where you actually see it happening, and no one in the building ever really doubted it in the first place. I’m sure fans thought one thing, but everyone here knew what he was capable of.
“Yeah, it was the first game, but it is what it is, you know what I mean? It’s just part of the game and you move on from it.”
The mental toughness showed almost immediately for Szmyt, who spent the night before the Browns’ Week 2 game in Baltimore at a dinner with a host of family members at his sister’s house. The next day, he easily made both PATs and his only field goal, albeit in a one-sided Ravens win.
The next week, though, was when the demons exorcised themselves completely in the same stadium where they first showed up. Szmyt hit a game-winning 55-yard field goal, a career long, as time expired to beat the Green Bay Packers, a kick that earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
It was, in some ways, validation and vindication for Szmyt, who always believed it was just about getting a chance. What happened in the opener was just another hurdle to clear on his way to getting that stamp of approval from others.
“I always knew, too, even being a free agent,” Szmyt said. “I knew it’s a matter of time until I get into the league that I’ll be able to show everybody that I belong in the league. … I think having that test in Week 1 is definitely — not that I questioned anything — but it definitely was a mental battle to get over. Am I going to get another opportunity? Am I going to be able to showcase throughout a whole season what I can do and just the percentages I can put up? Luckily, I was given that opportunity to be able to do so.”
The last time Szmyt kicked in that same stadium for the season was anything by a sunny Sunday afternoon. It was a rainy, windy December Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It may have been rainy and the wind tricky but it didn’t faze Szmyt, who kicked a 50-yarder to give Cleveland a 3-0 lead before adding a 33-yarder in the fourth quarter to help push the lead out in what turned into a 13-6 win.
“It was a different direction when what it often is this time of year, I’ll say that,” Bojorquez said of the wind. “But any more than that is for us to know and no one else.”
And that leads to the full-circle moment this week, because what was the beginning is now the end — the Cincinnati Bengals, only this time in Cincinnati.
Szmyt understands the symmetry that exists between Week 1 and Week 18. He’s just not ready to use it as a chance to take a big-picture view.
“I’m completely in the moment,” Szmyt said. “I haven’t even thought about what the offseason’s going to look like right now. I’m just trying to finish the season, then I’ll take a step back and look at the year and how it’s gone.
“But from what I can feel now, how the season went is just a learning experience as a whole. Just getting comfortable, finding a rhythm in the NFL and just what it’s like, what it means to play in the NFL.
“I think Week 1 was obviously high stress, with everything going on in my personal life and stuff. And then just kind of settling into finding a way to just go in week after week and just take it one week at a time and not look at it too big picture.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ