(Editor's Note: Throughout the offseason, DallasCowboys.com staff writers will take a closer look at the roster, analyzing each player's impact last season and how he fits into the team's 2011 plans. Today's featured player is kicker Kris Brown.)

Name: Kris Brown
Position: kicker
Height/Weight: 5-11 / 211
Experience: 12 seasons
College: Nebraska

Key stat: Brown has a career 77.3 field goal percentage (256-for-331) over 12 seasons. David Buehler had a 75.0 field goal percentage (24-for-32) in his first season as the Cowboys' full-time kicker.

Contract Status: Signed through 2011.

2010 Impact: Brown, a native of nearby Southlake, Texas, signed a two-year deal with the Cowboys during the final week of the season - five days after Buehler missed a late extra point in a one-point Christmas Night loss to the Cardinals. Four months earlier, Brown's eight-year run with the Texans ended after losing a training camp battle with Neil Rackers. Houston gave Brown an injury settlement - he had been kicking with plantar fasciitis - and he briefly signed with the Chargers in late October, making four of five field goals in three games for an injured Nate Kaeding.

Where He Fits: Brown's signing directly indicates this: The Cowboys feel Buehler needs competition. They haven't given up on their young kicker, but they need more consistency from him. Buehler made 4-of-6 field goals from at least 50 yards but also missed three between 30 and 39 yards. Brown was inconsistent in stretches with the Steelers and Texans, but he's an experienced guy who should at least push Buehler in preseason - if there is a preseason.

Writers' Analysis:

Rob Phillips: The new rule moving kickoffs from the 30- to 35-yard line gives Buehler a further edge over Brown. The Cowboys would rather not keep two kickers on the 53-man roster again, but Buehler must demonstrate he can make short and intermediate field goals. Had the Cowboys been in a playoff race last year, they might have been forced to sign a veteran like Brown much sooner.

Nick Eatman: This could be one of the best position battles in training camp, although that's not exactly a good thing. With Brown and Buehler having very similar kicking percentages, it'll probably come down to other variables, such as kickoffs. Brown might be equalized a bit with the new kickoff rules pushing the line of scrimmage up five yards. But ultimately, it'll probably come down to trust. If the Cowboys can trust Brown more than Buehler when it comes to making the medium-range kicks, then it should give him a boost when it's time to make the decision. Once Buehler misses a crucial extra point, it's going to be difficult to fully trust him, which is not a good feeling to have going into a season.

By Rob White / World-Herald Staff Writer

Former University of Nebraska-Omaha kicker Greg Zuerlein had a scholarship offer from UCLA and a number of other Division I-A schools, including hometown Nebraska, lining up and showing interest.

But the NCAA has denied Zuerlein’s appeal for a sixth season of eligibility at college football’s highest level. Instead of kicking on television this fall, Zuerlein said he plans to finish his college career at Division II Missouri Western.

“Obviously I wanted to play Division I, and it almost seems unfair considering everything that has happened,” the Lincoln Pius X graduate said. “Going to Missouri Western is going to be great for me ... but it would have been nice to compete at the highest level. It would have been a good experience.”

Zuerlein, who missed last season because of a hip injury that eventually required surgery, had been granted a sixth season of eligibility on the Division II level before the University of Nebraska at Omaha dropped its football program in March.

And while his teammates were able to transfer and play immediately at any level, Zuerlein had to apply for an extra year in eligibility in Division I. Eligibility windows are counted differently between Divisions II and I — in Division II, the athlete has 10 full-time semesters in which to complete four seasons of competition, while in Division I, there is a five-year clock for the four seasons.

Zuerlein, who was a healthy redshirt his first year at UNO, has had his five-year clock expire, but he was a part-time student this semester, so he’s still within his six-year window for Division II eligibility.

“It kind of stinks that all of my teammates are able to go wherever they want without penalty and I’m the only one who can’t,” Zuerlein said.

A strong-legged kicker capable of field goals beyond 60 yards, Zuerlein twice led Division II in touchbacks.

The All-American was contacted by many Division I powers after UNO dropped football, including Clemson, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. In addition to UCLA, he also visited Oklahoma State.

Nebraska assisted him with his eligibility appeal. He said he wouldn’t re-apply to the NCAA.

“It takes time, and once they’ve made their ruling, they aren’t going to change their mind anyway,” Zuerlein said. “They said I wasn’t being denied an opportunity since I’m still eligible in Division II, and when one of the best arguments you have is that there’s a chance to play in your home city where you can stay home and save money ... really, there’s no point.”

Zuerlein said he’s excited about working with the coaching staff at Missouri Western, one of UNO’s conference foes which had been known to line up its return men 9 yards deep in the end zone to try to return his kickoffs. Missouri Western is the home of the Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp.

“They have a great facility and a great kicking coach (Jay White),” Zuerlein said. “I’ve known some of the kickers they’ve had there, and I’ve seen how much they’ve improved while they were there. I think I can improve, too.”

Zuerlein, who has a chance to continue to kick professionally, said his rehab from hip surgery has gone well. His physical therapy has included kicking soccer balls, and he expects to be cleared to kick footballs next week. He expects to be full strength by fall camp.

“Even though it’s healed, I’ve still been a little timid about kicking with full power,” he said. “I’ll probably ease into it and see how it feels each day.”

World-Herald report

A proven Division II kicker wants to join the Nebraska football program, and he’s not a former University of Nebraska at Omaha player.

Former Chadron State kicker Michael Ziola confirmed Monday that he expects to transfer to NU and contend for the place-kicking job in 2012 after he sits out a year because of NCAA transfer guidelines.

Ziola, from Columbus, made 18 of 22 field-goal attempts and all 39 extra-point tries as a redshirt freshman for the 8-3 Eagles.

“He’s a very good kicker,” Chadron State head coach Bill O’Boyle said. “Very accurate. We’re going to miss him.”

Former UNO All-American Greg Zuerlein — who booted 43 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks — has been contacted by NU and 50 to 60 other schools, but it’s unclear if he’ll be eligible for a sixth year of play in Division I, or if he would pick Nebraska.

Ziola has talked to NU Director of Football Operations Jeff Jamrog about walking on with the hopes of working out with the team this summer.

“I’m not guaranteed a thing,” Ziola said. “I have to put in the work. But it’s something I want to do.”

At Columbus in 2008, the 5-foot-10, 155-pound Ziola played quarterback — throwing for 1,680 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior — and kicked. His 13 field goals as a junior set the state record.

After redshirting in 2009, he took over for former All-American Travis Atter at Chadron State. He made 5 of 9 field-goal attempts from beyond 40 yards in 2010, with a long of 46.

Ziola said he is leaving Chadron because “it wasn’t the place for me.” He considered transferring to UNO, but the Mavs cut their football program in moving to Division I.

Now he looks to jump into the Nebraska competition, where junior walk-on Brett Maher handled almost all kickoff, punting, and place-kicking duties during the spring game. Scholarship recruit Mauro Bondi arrives in June. Senior UNO transfer Jon Damkroger is a punter. NU also lists former Bellevue West kicker Ethan Davis on the roster.

If it seems a bit of an unproven crew, recall that Henery — the most accurate kicker in NCAA history and a recent fourth-round NFL draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles — walked on with minor fanfare in 2007 as a candidate to replace Jordan Congdon, who transferred to USC. Henery won the job over scholarship freshman Adi Kunalic in fall camp and never gave it up.

For his part, Ziola plans to enroll in classes and meet again with Jamrog this week.

“I want to get in there for the summer and work out with the full team,” he said.

After Ziola sits out one year, he would have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Yardbarker.com report

In the fourth round of the 2011 NFL draft, the Philadelphia Eagles selected one of the last players anybody expected them to select. They drafted a kicker.

But before you make any judgments on Alex Henery, let’s just understand one thing: Henery is no ordinary kicker.

In fact, he is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history. He made 18 of 19 field goals in 2010, with the only miss being a blocked 51-yard field goal. He made 21 of 22 career kicks between 40 and 49 yards, and 5 of 11 from above 50 yards, including a school-record game-winning 57-yarder.

He ended his college career by kicking 63 of 65 field goals from fewer than 50 yards.

He also punted for the last two years of his career at Nebraska, averaging 42.2 yards per punt.

Henery is the best kicker to come out of college in years and he sounds like the absolute perfect fit for the Philadelphia Eagles.

But there’s one minor problem. The Eagles already have a kicker, and a pretty good one.

David Akers has earned five Pro Bowl selections in 12 years with the Eagles, including each of the last two years.

He’s 36 years old and could still kick for a few more seasons at the professional level, especially since he’s shown no signs of slowing down.

But I don’t think the Eagles will keep Akers in 2011. He’s as good as gone with the team.

Akers has had a reputation, and I believe it’s a fair reputation, for not being able to make the clutch kick when it matters. When the game is on the line, he usually succeeds. But it’s the kicks when the games are still within reach that Akers misses.

It’s the two field goals, both relatively short, against the Green Bay Packers in the Eagles’ 21-16 wild-card loss of this past season that would have kept the team’s season alive and set up a road game in Chicago.

It’s a field goal and an extra point that Akers missed against the Arizona Cardinals in the 2008 NFC championship game that could have resulted in the Eagles winning the game.

Don’t forget that Akers is also 36. He’ll be 37 during next year. He can’t kick forever. When a guy like Henery is available, a guy who can kick for the team for the next 15 seasons, it’s wise to draft him.

Akers was already offered the transition tag and he hasn’t signed yet. He practically stated after the playoff game against Green Bay that he doesn’t think he’ll be back with the team next season.

I’m not even sure if he wants to be back and I think this seals it.

A team doesn’t draft a kicker, especially the most accurate one in college history, in the fourth round if they plan on cutting him. A team also doesn’t keep two kickers. They might for a year, like the Eagles did in 1999 when they had Norm Johnson and David Akers, but that’s more of a transition period, and it’s usually obvious to the team which kicker will stay and which will go.

The rumor around Philadelphia is that the Eagles will let Henery do kickoffs and keep Akers for field goals. While I think that’s possible, I don’t think the Eagles will want to do that, out of respect for Akers, who certainly won’t want to see his workload cut in half.

Akers can still kick and he’ll get an opportunity to prove it next season. I just don’t think it will be for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Alex Henery is the kicker of the future.

By Charean Williams / star-telegram.com

Alex Henery wasn't a finalist for the Lou Groza Award or the Ray Guy Award, but the Nebraska player was one of the most accomplished specialists in NCAA history.

Henery averaged 42.2 yards on 147 career punts, and he made 68-of-76 career field-goal attempts -- a record 89.5 percent -- including 26-of-33 from 40-plus yards. He missed only one field-goal attempt from inside 50 yards.

He is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history, with his mark bettering the 87.8 percent of Florida's Bobby Raymond. No one ever has been better inside 40 yards, as Henery topped the previous record of 97.0 percent that Raymond held, or from 40-plus as Henery topped the 72.1 percentage that Georgia's Billy Bennet had.

That's why Henery will enter the NFL as a placekicker and likely as a highly drafted placekicker.

"It's tough to get drafted as a kicker, so I'll be happy if I get drafted," Henery said.

Henery kicked a lot of big field goals in his career. He had a 52-yarder against Texas in the Big 12 title game during the 2009 season, and nearly won the game with a 42-yarder with 1:44 left. He followed that with four field goals, including a 50-yarder and two others more than 40 yards, in the Holiday Bowl against Arizona. A year earlier, in the Gator Bowl, he made all four attempts to give the Huskers a 26-21 victory over Clemson.

But Henery's favorite kick was his signature field goal -- a 57-yarder in the final minutes against Colorado in 2008. It followed kicks of 35, 27 and 37 yards earlier in the game. It was then that Kris Brown, a Southlake Carroll graduate, predicted that Henery would pass Brown's career scoring mark at Nebraska.

"[The 57-yard kick] was the school record," said Henery, whose 397 points also are a school record. "That was the big one everyone talks about."

Henery has made a 64-yarder indoors and once hit a 65-yarder in pregame warm-ups. His leg strength combined with his accuracy separate Henery from kickers in this draft or in recent drafts.

"I make sure I'm extra focused [on every kick]," Henery said. "I'm a low-key guy, and I don't build up a situation over others. Whether it's a 57-yarder or an extra point, I have the same approach."

Henery, an all-state punter from Omaha who went to Nebraska as a walk-on, doesn't anticipate the NFL being any different.

"It's still kicking, whether it's a high school field or the NFL," he said.

Omaha World-Herald report (Omaha.com)

LINCOLN, Neb. - After a full game of handling most of the kickoff, place-kicking and punting duties for two separate teams, Nebraska’s Brett Maher admitted that his leg felt a little tired.

“I couldn't do that again tomorrow, that's for sure,” Maher told reporters after the game.

But the junior specialist could perform all three jobs next season, if needed.

He's already a pretty accomplished punter, as shown Saturday when he averaged 49.3 yards on six attempts. Maher said field goals and kickoffs will likely be his primary emphasis this summer.

He missed a 34-yard field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter, which would have put the White team ahead. But he did recover to make the game-winner from 39 yards out for the Red.

Maher even proved that he's pretty capable in kickoff coverage, though he disclosed afterward that he had a little help when he pushed Brandon Kinnie out of bounds and saved a touchdown in the second quarter.

Maher was originally on the Red team, but he switched sides occasionally to kick for the Whites. When he kicked off to Kinnie, he was still wearing his red jersey. Kinnie got confused.

“He thought I was on his team because I was wearing a red jersey,” Maher said. “Luckily for me, he thought I was on his team because he was liable to run me over.”

Nebraska's Brett Maher has a big job ahead of him.

Maher is trying to replace Alex Henery. He is becoming the front-runner at punter and making it so scholarship recruit Mauro Bondi will have to unseat him at place-kicker come August.

Maher is a junior and a solid athlete who was the holder on kicks the past two seasons. However, whoever replaces Henery will a huge job. Henery is an NFL draft prospect and finished his career with the Cornhuskers as the most accurate kicker in NCAA history.

Brian Christopherson / Lincoln Journal Star

Replace? Pick that word if you choose. But it's not the one John Papuchis chooses when he talks to the Nebraska kickers about trying to win the job left open by the man who rarely missed -- Alex Henery.

"What I tell our guys is we're not looking to replace Alex," Papuchis said. "Alex is going to go down as one of the greatest kickers in the history of the NCAA."

Yeah, anyone setting out to match Henery is probably going to lose the battle. He attempted 76 field goals at Nebraska. He made 68.

In this football-crazed state, Henery proved that a golden foot can make you a rock star.

That's why Papuchis, who has worked closely with NU's special teams, is quick to say the next guy doesn't have to be Alex.

The coach is also quick to say the next guy can still be pretty good, too.

This is where everyone turns their head and looks in the direction of Brett Maher, an athletic junior from Kearney who has patiently waited his turn for the opportunity to kick for the Huskers.

Hey, the mild-mannered Maher isn't complaining.

"Who better to wait behind than a guy like Alex?" said Maher, now in his fourth year in the program. "He is arguably the best kicker ever, and certainly a very good punter. I learned a lot from him and tried to incorporate that into what I do."

With walk-on kicker Jason Dann no longer in the program, Maher is most definitely the man handling all the kicking duties this spring: place-kicking, kickoffs, punting.

Husker coach Bo Pelini said Maher has stepped up and really punted well.

"He's shown he's very capable of being the guy, but obviously, we have a kicker coming in, so the competition will get better," Pelini said.

Oh, yes, the competition. Mauro Bondi is expected to arrive this summer. Rarely does Nebraska offer a scholarship to a high school kicker, but the Huskers did just that to the native of Boca Raton, Fla.

While Bondi gets ready to make his appearance, Maher is taking advantage of his opportunity to kick in front of coaches this spring.

"Brett's a competitor and he's a great athlete," Papuchis said. "He was a guy that was on our track team as a freshman, so he's one of those guys that he's still learning how to do everything he needs to do. But he's getting better every day. If Brett goes in as our kicker into the year, I'll be very confident with him."

The 6-foot, 185-pound Maher is a well-rounded athlete. He didn't just kick and punt in high school (where he averaged 41.2 yards per punt). He also caught passes, producing 775 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns for Kearney High.

He played baseball and was a star in track and field. He won the state championship as a senior in the long jump and the pole vault, where he set a state record.

Maher turned down scholarship offers from Ohio and Colorado State for a chance to kick at Nebraska.

Now here he is with a chance to take over a position that Nebraska fans have reveled in watching in recent years. It wasn't just Henery's accuracy and punting skills that Big Red backers adored. There were also Adi Kunalic's driving kickoffs, which often produced touchbacks.

Maher, who was the holder for Henery the past two seasons, said he took lessons from both kickers.

"The biggest thing I take from Al is the way he gets it done under pressure," Maher said. "Whenever you needed a big kick or a big punt, he came through. I think he had a great mind-set coming into a kick."

You could say Maher was meant to kick. He grew up participating in the Punt, Pass & Kick contests.

His dad was friends with Kris Brown, the former Husker kicker who has had a long NFL career and is now with the Dallas Cowboys.

Maher has also had the chance to work a couple times with former Nebraska punter Kyle Larson, another Kearney High grad who spent five years punting for the Cincinnati Bengals.

"I try to model after him as far as punting goes," Maher said. "I think he's been a really good influence in me."

Maher isn't thinking too far ahead. He's not getting caught up in how it would feel to step onto the field in September for the first time if he wins the job.

Right now: Time to work. Time to focus.

Because he knows the Huskers have a long line of great kickers and punters that have come through the program in recent years: Henery, Kris Brown, Josh Brown, Larson and Sam Koch.

He knows that being a Husker kicker is no insignificant job title.

"You look back for a long time and we have a lot of kickers that are still kicking in the NFL," Maher said. "It's exciting to even think about being mentioned in that group of guys."

Reach Brian Christopherson at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 402-473-7439.

LINCOLN, Neb. - Brett Maher, a junior from Kearney, is handling kickoff, punt and place-kicking duties this spring at Nebraska.

kicker/punter Jason Dann apparently is no longer on the team, according to huskerextra.com.

He will see some competition this fall when 2011 recruit Mauro Bondi arrives.