Since missing a PAT and field goal in Game 1, Andre Szmyt has made 21 of 23 field goals and 22 consecutive extra points. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor’s note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
This being awards season, let’s give Andre Szmyt the comeback player of the year award on the Browns.
As his first season in the NFL comes full circle on Sunday in Cincinnati, no player has come so far from Game 1 against the Bengals than the Browns’ kicker.
After he missed a PAT and a 36-yard field goal try in the 17-16 loss in the season-opener in Cleveland, most everybody wanted Szmyt on the next bus out of town. It was his first game and he hadn’t earned the benefit of doubt.
It wasn’t until Szmyt made a 55-yard game-winner against Green Bay in Game 3 that it became known that Szmyt lost his mother to a brain aneurysm just before arriving at training camp in July.
Since those misses in Game 1, Szmyt has missed only two field goals over his next 23 attempts – from 56 yards in Detroit and 47 in Foxborough, MA. – and has been perfect on his 22 PATs.
He described his first season as “a learning experience, for sure.”
“Maturing, just kind of figuring out the ropes. I mean, obviously dealing with my own personal life stuff at the beginning of the year and just kind of learning, settling into the NFL. I felt like everything was moving a million miles a second at the beginning of the year, and now just everything seems much more settled in a rhythm and stuff.
“And just kind of being able to handle the stress and the pressure of playing in the NFL. I think I put it on a pedestal early on where it was like this huge thing, but then just realizing at the end of the day, like, I’m still just kicking a football.”
Szmyt, 27, certainly has earned a return engagement next season. He’ll be an exclusive rights free agent, which means he can’t go anywhere if the Browns simply offer him a minimum one-year deal after the season.
“I know I belong here [in the NFL],” Szmyt said. “Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve been successful, whether it was training camp in Chicago, the UFL, training camp here. I knew I had the skills to be good. It was just whether I was going to get an opportunity after we went to showcase my talent and keep going. Thankfully, they stuck with me, and I was able to do so.”
A native of suburban Chicago, Szymt has seemed totally unfazed with the inclement weather conditions he has kicked through this winter. He is 11 for 11 in the kicker’s graveyard known as Huntington Bank Field since his one field goal miss in the opener. He also made a 50-yarder in minus-2 wind chill in Soldier Field.
“It was like every game was something,” Szmyt said with a laugh. “If it’s sunny, it’s like 50 mph winds. If it’s not windy, it’s snowing or raining in wet conditions. I feel like it’s the perfect first year, though, to experience all that and try to figure out everything, know where the wind’s coming from, and then you know what’s going to play on the field.
“Just getting all that information and data to go into the next year and the year after that. Lord willing, I’m still here. Have that experience.”
Bye bye, Wyatt?
Wyatt Teller’s last game with the Browns may prove to be last week against Pittsburgh, during which he aggravated a calf injury. Teller was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday, ending his season and perhaps his career in Cleveland.
His contract is up and the Browns have shown no interest in re-signing the guard. In fact, they demoted him to a rotation with Teven Jenkins before the injury.
He has said he’d like to finish his career with the Browns. While his career with them seems over, he intends to find a new team in free agency if the team doesn’t change its mind.
“I don’t want it to be [over with the Browns], but if it is, it is,” he said with a shrug.
A Zinter sighting
Jenkins is in concussion protocol, which means Sunday could mark the first start this season for Zak Zinter. The third-round pick from Michigan in 2024 has appeared in only four games in his second season and was inactive for 11.
Zinter made three starts at guard early in his rookie season and finished 2024 with 233 total snaps. He has only 28 snaps on offense this year.
“Oviously, Zak played last season for us, has not played as much this year, but has been working extremely hard and I’m seeing a lot of that hard work show up in these games,” said coach Kevin Stefanski. “So, I’m bullish on Zak.
“He’s had players in front of him. [He’s] a young player that has worked very hard, is ready to go in a moment’s notice. Sometimes you need, you know – the opportunity comes for a variety of reasons, and obviously there’s opportunities coming here now potentially at the end of the season, but doesn’t mean that we’re not working very hard throughout the week with him. While it hasn’t necessarily been represented in a lot of reps in the games, I do think it’s been a positive season.”
Brownie bits
Besides Jenkins, Browns DNPs at practice on Wednesday were tight end Harold Fannin (groin), linebacker Carson Schwesinger (quad, ankle), tight end David Njoku (knee) and newly signed center Kingsley Equakun (knee, shoulder). Stefanski said he would not rule anyone out for Sunday yet …
With rumors swirling of a possible “parting” with the Browns, Stefanski was asked if he would address his future with the players. “No,” he said. “The most important thing is what’s in front of us, and that’s our game Sunday down in Cincinnati. That’s all we care about.”