Texans release kicker Kris Brown, go with Neil Rackers
The Houston Texans' open competition for the kicking job is over. Long-time Texan Kris Brown was released in favour of Neil Rackers. Rackers signed with Houston as a free agent during the off-season as Brown was coming off his worst NFL season. Brown is an 11-year veteran who spent his first three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before joining the expansion Texans.
Brown was the last remaining player from the Texans inaugural 2002 season. He has appeared in all 128 games in the last eight seasons but struggled last year. In 2009, Brown made just 21 of 32 field goal attempts as some of those misses proved to be costly. In back-to-back games Brown missed potential game-tying field goals on the last play of regulation. First he hooked a kick left in a 20-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and then he hooked his kick left again the following week in another 20-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Texans’ coach Gary Kubiak stated before training camp that there would only be one kicker for the Texans. Brown’s agent Glenn Schwartzman is confident that his client will find a new team in 2010.
"We're kind of going to just digest what just happened," Schwartzman said. "The first situation that makes sense to us, we'll definitely strongly consider that. But we're not in a rush to just take something, just to take something. We want to make sure it's a place where he and his family can be for a while."
Kubiak said that this decision was one of the toughest he’s had to make as a football coach. Brown had a spectacular 2008 campaign when he converted for 29 field goals on 33 attempts. Kubiak indicated throughout the pre-season that Rackers and Brown were in a close battle for the job. In he end, Rackers didn't miss a single field goal, while Brown only missed one, on a long 56-yard attempt.
"It's been a great ride for him," Schwartzman said. "He loves the Texans organization and the city. He did everything he could to put himself in a position to stay with the team. He had one of the best camps he's ever had. He competed really hard, but the team made the decision it made, and he's got to respect that and get ready for his next opportunity."
The Arizona Cardinals chose not to re-sign Rackers after a seven-year run. He spent the first three seasons of his career in Cincinnati. Rackers is coming off a season in which he converted 16 of his 17 field goal attempts. However he missed a crucial kick in the Cardinals play-off game against the Green Bay Packers. With just nine seconds left in a tied game, Rackers missed the potential game-winning field goal on a 34-yard attempt. Fortunately the Cardinals went on to win 51-45 in overtime. Rackers’ best season came in 2005, when he booted an NFL record 40 field goals on 42 attempts.
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