Joseph keeps an even keel

There was a time, not that long ago, when the job of placekicker on the Cleveland Browns was as stable as the Terminal Tower.

Lou Groza, except for 1960 when he retired for that one season because of a back injury, was the Browns’ kicker from 1946-67.

Groza begat Don Cockroft, who kicked for the Browns from 1968-80.

Dave Jacobs was the Browns’ placekicker for the first seven games in 1981. Matt Bahr replaced him in midseason and kicked through the 1989 season.

After one year of Jerry Kauric making 14 of 20 field goal attempts in 1990, Matt Stover kicked for the Browns from 1990 through 1995 and then went on kicking 13 more years for the same franchise when the Browns were moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens.

Phil Dawson (1,271 points) handled the kicking chores from 1999-2012 and would have broken Groza’s all-time scoring record of 1,349 points if he hadn’t signed with the 49ers in free agency in 2013. He is still kicking, now with the Cardinals, and has 1,811 career points.

So, excluding 2 ½ seasons and the three years they were in hiatus, the Browns had five kickers from 1946-2012. Since then Billy Cundiff (2013-14), Travis Coons (2015), Cody Parkey (2016) and Zane Gonzalez (2017 plus two games in 2018) tried unsuccessfully to fill Dawson’s cleats.

Now it’s rookie Greg Joseph’s turn.

The Browns signed Joseph on Sept. 17, less than 24 hours after Gonzalez missing two PATs and two field goals in the second half against the Saints gave the Browns cause to cut Gonzalez.

Joseph practiced with the Browns on Sept. 18 and plans to work overtime to get familiar with long snapper Charley Hughlett and holder Britton Colquitt. He has that stoic approach to the job that is part of a successful kicker’s DNA.

“Honestly there’s no practicing for (pressure),” Joseph said. “I learned that in preseason, but you go out on the field and take a deep breath and you fall back on your training and in times of pressure you fall back on what you know and I believe I’ve trained well enough and meticulously enough that hopefully that bottom line is a good line.”

Joseph played his college football at Florida Atlantic, where he was 57 of 82 on field-goal attempts in four years. He was 15 of 21 as a senior.

Joseph was with the Dolphins in training camp and was waived in final cuts despite going 3-for-3 on fieldgoal tries in preseason.

The 6-foot-1 native of Boca Raton, Fla., was not stressing about being unemployed. Maybe that’s a

good thing for a kicker.

Asked what he was doing while Gonzalez was drowning in New Orleans, he gave an answer that could have made him the star of a Corona beer commercial.

“I was, you know, just living the South Florida life,” he said. “I was out by the water, just having some fun with some buddies, relaxing, watching the games. Nothing crazy.

“It’s a small kicking family. I don’t pray for anyone to fail, any kicker, period. But when the opportunity comes, you’ve got to make it work and do the best that you can.”

There was little doubt the Browns would have a new kicker before playing the Jets. The only question was who would get the opportunity and how quickly.

Though Joseph was chillin’ on the beach with his buddies, he was totally aware Gonzalez and Vikings kicker Daniel Carlson had nightmare Sundays.

Carlson missed three field-goal attempts, including a 35-yard try with four seconds left in overtime in

a 29-29 tie with the Packers. The Vikings cut Carlson on Sept. 18 with plans to sign former Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey if Bailey passes a physical.

“I like staying levelheaded,” Joseph said when asked if he thought his phone might ring with a tryout offer. “I don’t get my hopes up. I don’t let my hopes get down. I stay somewhere right in the middle, so I was ready for it to come, but I was ready for it not to come as well.”

Veterans Blair Walsh and Cairo Santos were in the tryout competition with Joseph on Sept. 17. Coach Hue Jackson liked what he saw then and he liked what he saw in practice Sept. 18.

“I got a bird’s eye view today,” Jackson said after practice. “The snap looked good, the hold looked good and the kick looked good.

“What we do right now really doesn’t matter. We’re working at it and working through anything that potentially could be issues, but it has to be right on Thursday night. That’s what pros do.”