BEREA — Andre Szmyt knows all about the weather in Cleveland. He’s heard all the horror stories of kicking along the shores of Lake Erie, especially as the temperatures drop and the winds rise.

Szmyt hears all of those stories and says, I’ll do you one better.

“I grew up in Chicago,” Szmyt said Aug. 26, “so going through high school and stuff, I’ve kicked in, like, in the colder weather and stuff. And just being a free agent, too. I’m ready year-round. … I’ve been kicking in the cold weather and my rookie year I was in Chicago, so the wind isn’t super friendly there either.

“So, you know, I feel like I’ve had a kind of a good grasp and I kind of understand how to play my ball in different kinds of winds.”

The opportunity will be there for Szmyt to prove himself. The Browns moved off a veteran kicker, who was admittedly coming off a career-worst season, in favor of Szmyt.

Dustin Hopkins, whose contract the Browns terminated on roster cutdown day after two seasons in Cleveland, had 287 career regular-season field goal tries and one more in the playoffs. That included 63 during a 31-game stay in Northeast Ohio.

To replace Hopkins, they’re turning to Szmyt, who has zero career regular-season or playoff kicks in the NFL. He does have three field goals this preseason, including a game-winning 37-yard kick as time expired to win the Browns’ preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams.

How will that compare to the feeling of lining up to kick a game-winner if given the chance in the Browns’ Sept. 7 season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals? Or, really, any of their regular-season games?

“Well, I’ve never played in the regular season, so I can’t tell you,” Szmyt said. “But, I mean, I treat every kick in practice, in preseason like it’s an actual game. So they both felt the same so far.”

The Browns have given the 26-year-old his most extended opportunity to make it in the NFL. The only previous NFL opportunity for the Syracuse product and former UFL kicker was spending the 2023 offseason with his hometown Chicago Bears.

Szmyt originally arrived in Cleveland on Christmas Eve in 2024, when he spent a week on the Browns’ practice squad. He was then signed to a futures/reserve contract in January, and was with the team through most of the offseason and all of training camp.

All of that time, Szmyt was working alongside Hopkins. When the dust settled and there was only one kicker standing, it proved to be him.

“Yeah, I mean, he meant a lot to me and he’s like one of the best guys I’ve ever met,” Szmyt said. “And we briefly caught each other in the locker room and we said some nice words to each other, and I’m always going to be rooting for him and I know he’ll be doing the same for me. I have nothing but love for him and respect.”

Hopkins’ departure, though, doesn’t just transfer the job to Szmyt. It also transfers all of the pressures that come with kicking regular-season games in the NFL.

Szmyt didn’t need anyone else to tell him that. He saw it first-hand as he watch the veteran he spent the last month working alongside get replaced by him.

It’s why, even the moment Szmyt learned he was on the initial 53-man roster, it was tempered with a certain expectation of what’s to come.

“Yeah, it was exciting, of course,” Szmyt said. “But, you know, I’m kind of already focused on Week 1 and, you know, preparing and staying on my course and my process like I was talking about.”

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Andre Szmyt ready to see how real thing feels like as Browns kicker