Cincinnati — After the Browns lost to the Bengals in Week 1, first-year kicker Andre Szmyt had to stand in front of his locker at Huntington Bank Field and answer questions about missing a 36-yard field goal and an extra point that cost the Browns a 17-16 game.
On Sunday, Szmyt stood in the Browns locker room at Paycor Stadium as head coach Kevin Stefanski held the ball.
“You can’t script the script any better than this,” Stefanski said in his postgame speech sent by the Browns. “We struggled as a football team the first week and we stuck with you because we believe in you.
Stefanski coughed up Szmyt’s ball.
“I’m proud of you,” he said. “This is for you.
Szmyt connected on a 49-yard field goal as time expired for the Browns to send them the winner against the Bengals in Week 18, 20-18.
The 27-year-old from Syracuse, who won a battle against Dustin Hopkins in training camp, struggled to put into words what it means to be in the position he was in nearly four months after one of his worst games.
“It’s a wild ride,” he said. “I’m kind of at a loss for words.
It has been a challenging year for Szmyt, whose mother is Lala died unexpectedly on July 10days before he reported to training camp to begin fighting for the job he now has.
After he missed those kicks against the Bengals, the Browns kept him tight as their kicker. Their patience paid off two weeks later when he made the game-winning kick in an upset over the Packers in Week 3.
Szmyt has made 23 of 25 field goals and all 24 extra points since Week 1.
“The guy’s been a stud since (Week 1),” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “He took a lot of kicks in camp and an unfortunate first start, but football and the world have a funny way of putting him back where he had to make a big kick.”
The confidence level in Szmyt is so high at this point that Stefanski told safety Grant Delpit, who broke up a Bengals two-point attempt with 1:29 left to make it a 1-point game, that the veteran safety just won them the contest.
“I told Grant as he was walking off the field, ‘Dude, that game, you just won the game because we’re about to kick a field goal,'” Stefanski said.
The 49-yarder was routine for Szmyt, especially since the Browns had robbed him of two long extra points earlier in the game. Two taunting penalties for two defensive touchdowns meant Szmyt had to convert 48-yard kicks, and he hit both.
“I kind of joked with him, I was like, we warmed you up on those last couple of PATs,” Bitonio said. “So I mean, it’s huge, what he’s been through this summer with his family and stuff and to come out and show that he can kick in this league is what it’s all about.
The kicking position is one answer the Browns may feel comfortable with as they head into a period of uncertainty. Kicking success in the NFL can be fickle — just ask Bengals kicker Evan McPherson, the poster child for a clutch kick during Cincinnati’s run to the 2021 Super Bowl, who had an extra point blocked and missed another on Sunday.
Even the player Szmyt replaced, Hopkins, felt like the sure thing the team had at the position going back to Phil Dawson until things fell apart for him last season.
Still, the Browns may feel confident in Szmyt’s future as they potentially lead a revamped coaching staff that could include a new special teams coordinator.
“It’s incredible and I’m excited about the job and hopefully I’ll be here for a long time,” he said, “and I can only get better.”
It’s been a winding road to Cleveland for Szmyt. He was originally signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and spent part of the 2024 season on the Browns’ practice squad. He also played for UFL St. Louis Battlehawks.
This comes after he won the Lou Groza Award as college football’s top player as a redshirt freshman in 2018. He spent six seasons at Syracuse.
It’s been a long and winding road for Szmyt to get from there to this kick, which included a Week 1 detour that most kickers don’t survive.
“This league is so temporary,” defensive tackle Shelby Harris said. “You can play one week and then play the next week and get chopped up the next week. That’s the way this league is. And so Dre has done a really good job, out of sight, out of mind. Last week is last week, last kick is last kick and then it’s moving forward.”
Szmyt went from a player who could leave his team to a hero in Week 18
“I honestly don’t believe there was any doubt in anybody’s mind on that sideline that the ball was going through the uprights,” Stefanski said. “That’s who the boy is.
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