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Kristopher Clayton Brown (born December 23, 1976) is an American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons in the late 1990s and 2000s. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL draft. In the first six years of his NFL career, he converted 132 of 173 field goals (76%) and scored 573 points. He was a key player for the expansion Houston Texans, being their placekicker for the entirety of the team's existence until 2010. He also played for the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys.
Brown served as captain of the Dragons as a senior and connected on 16-of-18 field goal attempts in 1994. He earned first-team all-district, All-Northeast Tarrant County honors and all-area honors as a kicker, as well as honorable-mention all-state honors from both the AP and the Texas Sportswriters Association. Brown was named an All-America kicker by Bluechip Illustrated and an All-Midlands region choice by SuperPrep in 1994.
In Carroll Senior High School's first ever 4A playoff game in 1994, Brown kicked four field goals, including a long of 50 yards, and the unranked Dragons defeated No. 2 Waxahachie, 26−23. The following week Brown was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with a concussion and Carroll was eliminated from the playoffs. The Dragons went 38−5 during Brown's tenure with the Dragons.
His younger brother, Drew Brown, followed in his footsteps by becoming the University of Nebraska's place kicker in 2014. Like his brother, he previously was the kicker for Southlake Carroll before his career with Nebraska.
Brown remained with the Steelers through the 2001 season, but had a crucial field goal blocked in the AFC Championship game that was returned for a touchdown. Brown also struggled in the team's first season at Heinz Field, including missing 4 field goals in a 13−10 loss to the arch-rival Baltimore Ravens.
Following the 2001 season, Brown sought Free agent and was granted the right to sign with another team. In 2002, Brown chose to sign with the newly formed Houston Texans as a restricted free agent. The Steelers chose not to match the Texans' offer, opting to initially go with Todd Peterson before selecting kicker Jeff Reed after Peterson was injured mid-season.
Brown kicked five field goals on October 7, 2007, against the Miami Dolphins at home, including the game-winner on a career-long 57-yarder with one second remaining. Brown set an NFL single-game record with three field goals of 54 yards or more, hitting two 54-yarders earlier in the game. Neil Rackers, Connor Barth, Morten Andersen, Sebastian Janikowski, Phil Dawson, Josh Scobee, Blair Walsh, Chris Boswell, and Tyler Bass are the only other kickers to kick three field goals of 50+ yards in a single game.
Brown was given an extension on June 16, 2009, worth $10 million over 4 years. It also included $2.5 million in guarantees. Texans reward kicker Brown with 4-year extension
Brown missed two game-tying field goals vs the Colts and Titans on Monday Night Football in week 9 and 11 of the 2009 season.
On September 3, 2010, Brown was released from the Texans after losing a training camp battle to Neil Rackers. Brown was the last remaining member of the inaugural 2002 team.
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