Hawks like what Brown can do for them

Josh Brown was last seen ripping off his helmet and racing around Qwest Field two weeks ago after making a 50-yard field goal on the last play of the game to beat Dallas.

The Seahawks kicker was swarmed by teammates and fans, who piled on the praise and hugs. Then, he walked out of the locker room and was hardly recognized.

Or so he thought.

"I'm a step above anonymous," Brown said, reflecting on his winning kick. "I was definitely a zip on the board before."

And now?

"Zip plus one."

Sure, Brown's game-winner Oct. 23 was talked about for days. It landed him radio spots, television interviews and thrust Brown into brief celebrity status.

But the attention has died down as Brown and the Seahawks get ready to face the Arizona Cardinals on the road today. That has allowed Brown to reflect on the kick that made him the talk of the town, the most important and first last-second field goal in his three seasons as a Seahawk.

"I got a lot of phone calls from a lot of people who really enjoyed talking about the moment," Brown said. "How much they appreciated the moment. How fun it was for them as fans. There's definitely been an increase in attention, but it hasn't changed my life by any means. It's one moment that will probably happen several times over."

So he hopes.

Since the kick, Brown's face is more familiar to fans around the area, a result of his helmetless sprint to midfield, where he was mobbed by teammates as Qwest Field rocked.

"Other than the fact that he chucked his helmet and showed off his receding hairline, I was happy for him," joked Neil Rackers, a good friend who has made all 22 of his kicks this season for the Cardinals.

But by and large, Brown can go about town and keep a low profile. He enjoys watching Seattle's other sports teams in action — he planned to be at the Sonics home opener Wednesday night.

"It's always fun to go have a hot dog and hang out," Brown said.

Brown's is the story of a small-town kid from middle America who made it big, who had a stable, supportive upbringing and was good at every sport he played. The native Oklahoman, who has never forgotten his rural roots, was an eight-man football star in high school.

Brown might not stand out in public all the time — for the record, he's No. 3 in your game program — but he has a strong presence in the Seahawks' record book. He's already the most accurate kicker in team history (82 percent) at age 26.

The road from obscurity started in Oklahoma, where Brown started competing in gymnastics and soccer in Tulsa before moving to Foyil, a tiny burg about 40 miles to the northeast on historic Route 66. In eighth grade, Brown was a manager for Foyil's eight-man varsity team, but was booting 35-yard field goals with ease during pregame warm-ups.

When he got to high school — a matter of steps because the town's junior high and high school are on the same campus — Brown emerged as an extraordinary athlete. He won two state titles in the high jump and, at 6 feet, could dunk a basketball with a 360-degree spin.

In football, he was a running back, a safety, the team's kicker and punter and its return specialist. He scored 51 touchdowns as a senior.

Then there was the day he booted a 61-yard field goal — wind aided — to end a playoff game in the fourth quarter because of a 45-point mercy rule. When Brown's coach, Rick Antle, went out to shake hands with the opposing coach after the game was called, Antle tried to apologize by saying he honestly didn't think Brown would connect.

"That's OK," the other coach told Antle. "We got beat on a 61-yard field goal from a future NFL player."

Brown was the big man on campus. Never shy, he sang in the church choir. That confidence didn't endear him to everyone, but Brown went on to bigger things as a kicker at Nebraska and was a seventh-round draft pick by the Seahawks in 2003.

The ebullient Brown is described by teammates as goofy, and Brown admits the description fits. At teammate Grant Wistrom's charity Halloween party Oct. 28, Brown dressed as Lt. Jim Dangle from the television show "Reno 911!", complete with a mustache, parted hair, short shorts and dark sunglasses.

"He takes his job real serious, and then the rest of the time, he likes to enjoy life and have fun," Seahawks punter Tom Rouen said.

"He's a jovial person because he can laugh at himself," running back Shaun Alexander said. "He's always doing something that's going to be funny."

Brown missed what would have been the winning field goal in the final seconds at Washington on Oct. 2. The Redskins won in overtime after Brown hit the left upright on a 47-yard try.

"He was as low as low could be after the Washington game, and as high as high can be after the Dallas game," special-teams coach Bob Casullo said. "He works at his craft, and as long as he keeps doing that, he's always going to be in the upper echelon in the league."

Brown didn't allow that miss at Washington to alter anything he does on his kicks. He said he hit the ball well and had good technique on the missed kick. Three weeks later, his winner against Dallas made him the NFC's special-teams player of the week for the first time.

"Life is fun, and I'm having a good time being myself," Brown said.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com