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The Houston Texans did more than cut ties with a veteran kicker Friday morning.
They cut ties with their roots, too.
Kicker Kris Brown, the last remaining player on the roster from the Texans' 2002 inaugural season, was released Friday morning, a day after the team's preseason finale. The team opted instead to keep free agent kicker Neil Rackers, brought in this past offseason to compete with Brown.
Brown told John McClain of the Houston Chronicle he was disappointed but not surprised.
"I did everything that I could do, and they had a difficult decision to make," Brown said Friday morning after being informed of the decision. "I'm disappointed, but I can't say it caught me off guard. I've said from Day 1 that I would focus on what I could control – competing and kicking."
Brown for his first seven seasons with Houston was one of the NFL's more reliable, clutch kickers, but he struggled at times last season and missed a critical field goal late in a road loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Titans early in the off-season signed Rackers, an 11-year veteran who spent the last seven seasons with Arizona. Rackers made all four of his field-goal attempts in the preseason, with all coming from between 20-to-29 yards.
Brown made four of his five preseason field-goal attempts, but Rackers made 41 of 45 attempts over the last two seasons.
"I'm excited, very excited," Rackers said. "Right now, I'm thinking a lot about Kris and his family and their situation. I respect Kris so much."
Brown made 21 of 32 field-goal attempts last season, including 10 of 19 from beyond 30 yards.
"I think I had as good a camp as I've ever had," Brown said. "I kicked extremely well. I wanted to make the decision tough for them. When I look back on these last nine years I like to think that I'm responsible for some of the success the team's had."
Brown said he's confident he'll kick again. But for now, at least, it won't be with an organization he has seen grow from its inception.
Texans Release Kicker Kris Brown, Last Remaining Original Player
Sep 3, 2010 – 1:27 PM
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