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Lincoln - Former Nebraska place-kicker Kris Brown gets a lot of satisfaction from little things.
Take for instance, the way he feels after kicking a field goal - or even an extra point.
"That's my job," Brown, a Pittsburgh Steelers' rookie, said in a recent interview. "I give it everything I have. I try to help my team win ballgames, and when the other players come up and pat me on my back for doing my part, that's one of the best feelings in all of football."
The diligence with which Brown works helped him rewrite the record books at Nebraska from 1995 through '98, and it allowed him to earn the No. 26 spot among the greatest 50 NU football players of the century, as voted by World-Herald readers.
Brown talks about his days at NU with pride. He said he never would have been equipped to handle the NFL without his experiences as a collegiate student-athlete. At Nebraska and in the NFL, Brown has rarely appeared to miss a beat on the path to the top of his profession.
He left Lincoln as the No. 1 all-time scorer in Nebraska history with 388 points - seventh in NCAA history. He made 57 of 77 field goals, another Husker record, and an all-time NCAA-best 217 extra points on 222 tries.
As a 22-year Pittsburgh rookie, Brown has made 21 of 23 field goals. His 91.3 accuracy ratings places second among all NFL kickers. He's made six of seven on kicks 40 yards or longer. In addition, Brown nailed his first 12 kicks, an NFL record to open a career, and the AFC has named him its special teams player of the week twice this year for the 5-7 Steelers.
"Honestly I don't feel pressure to hold up to any expectations," Brown said. "I felt pretty good coming out of the preseason. I wanted to do better, because I always want to do better. The main thing I feel is excitement. I feel very lucky to have been put in this position."
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