BEREA, Ohio -- It would be remiss to let the week pass without recognizing one of the more athletic and impressive plays in recent Browns history -- even if it did come in a loss.
It just so happened to be made by the team’s punter, Spencer Lanning.
“I can tell you what, that was one of the better plays I’ve seen by a punter,” coach Mike Pettine said.
“Unbelievable play,” special teams coach Chris Tabor added.
They weren’t alone. Lanning’s teammates in the locker room were all pointing it out, with Ryan Seymour demanding it was worth a story.
He was right.
On fourth-and-17 from the Browns 35, Christian Yount lost control of a snap and sailed it well over Lanning’s head. Lanning stood at the 20, leaped and managed to get one hand on the wayward snap to slow it down. The ball landed at the 15.
He turned, got a good bounce and ran the ball down at the 13. After grabbing the ball Lanning turned and arced back upfield to his left -- against his kicking foot.
“My biggest fear when I opened up with the ball was I was going to get teed off on,” Lanning said. “I didn’t know if they were going to be blitzing or if they were going to be in holdup.
“When I rolled out there was a moment when I said, ‘Am I gong to throw it, no? Am I going to hit it left footed? No. So all right, well I’ll get around enough to hit it right-footed.’”
At the last second, he maneuvered the ball parallel to the yard-lines and kicked with his right foot at about the 13. The ball went under Jonathan Grimes' hands officially for 22 yards, but Lanning provided a how’d-he-do-that moment by punting right-footed, turning the ball, going left on the run -- and booting the ball 44 yards in the air.
“I didn’t think that it was humanly possible to be running full speed one direction, running left and kick it right,” Pettine said.
Lanning told Tabor on the sidelines: “That’s one of those things that are hard to practice.”
The play showed Lanning’s athletic ability, something that can be taken for granted with kickers and punters. Phil Dawson used to say he was a football player who kicked. Lanning, much like former punter Chris Gardocki, is an effective, athletic punter.
“I think that’s the thing about that young man that gets understated a little bit," Tabor said. “Everyone just always looks at numbers. He’s a crafty guy that plays well in weather games, and he never flinches.”
Lanning has a 38.8-yard net per kick this season, but teams are averaging just 6.6 yards per return on his punts -- sixth-lowest in the league. Thirty-three of his 57 punts have been downed inside the 20 or fair-caught.
And this kick he made on the run against Houston went out of bounds without a return.
“I hope I don’t ever have to do it again,” Lanning said. “But at least I know I can sort of pull it off.”
