Nebraska legend Kris Brown spent four years as the starting kicker for the Cornhuskers and played a huge role on the 1995 and 1997 championship teams. After an excellent collegiate career, Brown was drafted by the Steelers and spent 12 seasons in the NFL. Eight years later, Kris Brown watches his son Kolby Brown kick on the Westside freshman football team.

Kris Brown said that Kolby Brown got his first taste of football surrounded by professional players at some of Kris Brown’s professional practices.

“Kolby started kicking a ball when he was probably three or four years old,” Kris Brown said. “He’d come up to our training camp practices and he’d kick [with the team].”

Although Kolby Brown was introduced to football as a toddler, he wasn’t able to play organized football until middle school.

“I first started kicking in seventh grade,” Kolby Brown said. “My dad wouldn’t let me play tackle football until seventh grade because that’s when he started, so it was a perfect time for me to start. I kicked a little bit before that to get prepared.”

Another Nebraska kicker is part of the Brown family,  former Husker Drew Brown. Drew Brown is Kolby Brown’s uncle and was living with the family until he signed to the Toronto Argonauts on Sept. 28. Kolby Brown was able to work with him before he left for Canada.

“Whenever my uncle would come down, I’d see if he wanted to kick,” Kolby Brown said. “Anytime I asked, he was more than willing to help.”

Kris Brown said that being a professional football player didn’t make being a father much more difficult. He said he believes that it is similar to many other jobs and that players still have time to be with their families and friends.

“[Balancing my family and football life] was easier than most people think,” Kris Brown said. “What people see on Sundays, they see that game and the glamour. It’s really a lot more normal that what people see. It’s just like anybody else. You get up on Monday morning and you go to work. It’s a lot more normal than what people think.”

An important lesson given to Kolby Brown by both his father and uncle is the need to stay mentally tough, especially as a kicker.

“You just have to stay even-keeled,” Kolby Brown said. “You can’t get too high on the highs or too low on the lows. I’ve learned that. My dad has told me that, and my uncle has told me that.”

Work ethic is another important attribute Kolby Brown said his father has drilled into his mind.

“[My dad has] just said to put hard work into it and if you want something, go out and get it,” Kolby Brown said.

Sometimes, Kris Brown works out with the Westside football team. His football background can offer the kickers better insight than most.

“I try not to be too involved,”  Kris Brown said. “ I don’t want to overstay my welcome and be up there everyday, but if the kickers need help I’m available.”

Kolby Brown said that his mom attended Millard South High School. Although the family has some Millard South ties, Kolby Brown’s family history with the Westside area was the driving force of their moving.

“My wife’s family all went to Westside and her grandparents lived in the Westside district, so when we came back to visit Omaha it was always an area that we were intrigued by,” Kris Brown said. “So, when we decided to move back the area what we were focused on [was Westside].”

Kolby Brown said his favorite college football team is Nebraska, mostly because of his family’s history of success there.

“I would say my love for Nebraska football is pretty strong, just because my uncle played there,” Kolby Brown said. “To sit in the stands for four years and watch him excel in the kicking position and then go back and watch old highlights of my dad kicking there, it means a lot.”

Despite his family’s success with kicking, Kolby Brown said he doesn’t feel any outside pressure to succeed.

“[My family history] doesn’t really change anything,” Kolby Brown said. “At the end of the day, I still have to go out and perform, no matter what my dad our my uncle did in the past. It’s helpful that they do give me advice that I can take out on gameday and put that into my form and sharpen me as a kicker.”