49ers' Dawson isn't your ordinary kicker Dawson's regimen, past defy kicker stereotypes

Recommended Video:

The next time a 49ers offensive lineman goes down with an injury, maybe Phil Dawson should replace him.

Yes, we're joking - sort of.

By now, it's clear Dawson is a relentlessly accurate placekicker. He has set the team record for consecutive field-goal attempts made with 20, including four in Sunday's 19-17 victory over Seattle.

Here's one thing you probably didn't know about Dawson: He played offensive tackle in high school. This wasn't some small place in the hinterlands, either. Lake Highlands High, a 5-A school in Dallas, has sent several players to the NFL, including former 49ers safety Merton Hanks.

Dawson, at 195 pounds, also played linebacker and fullback at times during his high school career. But when one of Lake Highlands' offensive tackles was injured the week before Dawson's junior season, he unabashedly volunteered to help.

That meant giving up more than 100 pounds to many opponents, including William Carr of Carter High. Dawson and Carr, who later became an All-America defensive lineman at Michigan, squared off in a playoff game at Texas Stadium.

Lake Highlands ran the wishbone offense, so Dawson stayed low (and feisty) and mostly leaned on chop blocks. And his team won.

"Those are fun memories," he said. "That's football at its purest. ... Honestly, those experiences - being an undersized, overachieving kind of kid, and learning the daily disciplines just to survive - have paid dividends, playing a position now that requires such precision and attention to detail."

Phil Dawson watches his third field goal against Carolina. He kicked four Sunday against Seattle. Phil Dawson watches his third field goal against Carolina. He kicked four Sunday against Seattle. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close 49ers' Dawson isn't your ordinary kicker 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

His precision obviously is paying dividends for the 49ers. They signed Dawson, 38, in hopes of finding more reliability in their kicking game, after a maddeningly up-and-down 2012 season with David Akers.

Dawson is delivering, to the tune of 23-of-26 on field-goal attempts (including one free-kick miss from 71 yards). He hasn't missed from anywhere since Sept. 26.

That might be what the 49ers envisioned when they lured Dawson from Cleveland, his only previous NFL home, but it's not exactly what he imagined as a kid. His father, Robert, was a backup quarterback at Baylor, so all young Phil wanted was to be a football player like Dad - and not really a kicker.

They watched games on television and constantly talked strategy. They also made a habit of playing catch in the backyard after Robert Dawson watched "60 Minutes" on Sundays - prompting Phil, all these years later, to say, "I hated that tick-tick-tick. I wanted that show to be over."

Dawson played several positions in his youth but came to realize he had a special talent for kicking. His mom, Judy, actually called the Cowboys' offices when Phil was in eighth grade, seeking a recommendation on a kicking coach. She was referred to Ben Agajanian, an NFL kicker from 1945 through '64.

Agajanian taught young Dawson the finer points of the trade. He grew to appreciate kicking's distinctive challenges, while maintaining the mind-set of a player who works on the line of scrimmage.

"People look at me as a kicker," Dawson said, "and say, 'Oh, you must be that weird guy who doesn't really know what's going on.' Actually, I'm kind of a student of the game. I'm all about football.

"I've tried to approach kicking with the same mentality as a player, even though that's not often associated with the position I play."

This shows in Dawson's weekly video study of opponents' kickoff-return schemes. He also spends so much time in the weight room that linebacker Patrick Willis said in September, "I've never seen a kicker work out as hard as he does."

Maybe that helps explain why Dawson, who turns 39 next month, is flourishing this late in his career. He made 29 of 31 field-goal attempts last season for the Browns, vaulting him to his first Pro Bowl appearance (with an assist from a Twitter campaign by Cleveland fans).

Dawson, upon joining the 49ers in March, soon became a regular offseason presence at their practice facility. He insisted he did every last exercise that his more collision-prone teammates did.

You can't take the offensive lineman out of the kicker, apparently.

"He works like the position players and does the same conditioning they do," special teams coach Brad Seely said. "That's unusual. Some kickers do that - Adam Vinatieri does - but a lot of guys don't."

Still, no physical training prepared Dawson for Candlestick Park. He brought deep experience with nasty elements - 14 years of wintry weather and Lake Erie wind - but he was still stunned by his first regular-season field-goal attempt for the 49ers.

It was a 48-yarder Sept. 8 against Green Bay. Dawson, ever meticulous, gauged the wind and temperature - which affects how fast the ball travels - and executed the kick exactly as he intended. The ball veered left instead of right. No good.

Dawson has made 17 straight at the Stick since then, but the place spooks him.

"Candlestick has been very humbling," he said. "I've yet to gain any kind of confidence that I know what I'm doing there. Every kick has my utmost attention, because the first one haunts me - that I can do everything right and still miss the kick."

He hasn't done much wrong in his inaugural season in San Francisco. Back home in Dallas, his parents watch every game attentively - wincing when the announcers refer to "chip shots" and savoring their son's success.

Robert Dawson also draws a line connecting that long-ago year at offensive tackle and Phil's 15 seasons in the NFL.

"I think, in retrospect, that experience has a lot to do with his long-term success," Robert said. "He was obviously outmanned, so he had to learn absolute discipline. It was a pivotal experience at a young age."