He wasn't selected in last week's NFL draft or picked up by an NFL team but former Fort Hays State kicker Dante Brown will continue his career in his native Canada.
Brown was the 41st overall pick, selected in the fifth round of the Canadian Football League draft by the Edmonton Eskimos.
Brown, a Mississauga, Ontario native, joins former Fort Hays State running back Shaquille Cooper with the Eskimos.
Brown is the most decorated kicker in FHSU history and was recently named to the D2Football.com All-Decade Team.
When St. Joseph's College (Ind.) closed its doors in the spring of 2017, Brown was left searching for a new place to play. St. Joseph's was a member of Division II, part of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Brown was nearly committed to play in his native country of Canada at the University of Western Ontario as a defensive back, but Fort Hays State contacted him with an offer a couple weeks prior to the start of the 2017 season. Brown took the opportunity at FHSU and earned All-America honors as both a kicker and punter over his final three years of collegiate football.
Though he didn't serve as placekicker his first year at FHSU, Brown made an immediate impact for the Tigers as a punter averaging 43.5 yards per attempt for the second-best average in program history. It netted him his first All-America honor while wearing the Black and Gold, helping the Tigers to a perfect 11-0 regular season and the No. 1 seed in Super Region 3 of the NCAA Playoffs.
Brown took over the kicking duties from senior Brandon Brown in 2018 and decimated the FHSU record for kicking points in a season with 123, breaking Brandon Brown's mark of 94 set the prior season. He made 28-of-33 field goal attempts and added 39 PATs that year, while also averaging a solid 41.4 yards on his 67 punt attempts for the season and tying the longest punt in FHSU history (an 84-yard bomb).
Brown finished the year two field goal makes shy of the NCAA Division II single-season record of 30. He earned MIAA Special Teams Player of the Year and All-America honors as a kicker from three organizations, while being named an All-America selection at both kicker and punter by the Don Hansen Football Committee. That netted him the distinction as Don Hansen's Division II National Special Teams Player of the Year, helping the Tigers to another appearance in the NCAA Playoffs.
Brown gave up his punting duties his senior season and closed out his signature career at FHSU by earning All-America honors from five organizations that included four first team selections as a kicker. Named the National Special Teams Player of the Year by the Don Hansen Football Committee for a second-straight year, he made 19 field goals alongside 52 PATs for 109 points on the season.
Brown is the only FHSU kicker in history to break the 100-point barrier in a season, accomplishing it twice. He finished with 232 points in two years of holding the kicker role at FHSU, 12 points shy of career points leader Drew O'Brien, who kicked from 2012-15. Brown also finished second on the career punting average list at FHSU, averaging 42.4 yards per attempt over two years in the punter role.
Brown finished his decorated three-year career at FHSU as a two-time National Special Teams Player of the Year and saw his name on All-America lists 10 times (5 organizations in 2019, 3 organizations in 2018, and 1 organization in 2017). Below is Brown's full list of accolades at FHSU.
Career Accolades
• 2X Don Hansen Football Committee National Special Teams Player of the Year (2018 & 2019)
• 2X Don Hansen Football Committee Super Region 3 Special Teams Player of the Year (2018 & 2019)
• 2X MIAA Special Teams Player of the Year (2018 & 2019)
• 2019 All-America First Team selection at kicker by D2CCA, AP, D2Football.com, Don Hansen Football Committee
• 2019 All-America Second Team selection at kicker by AFCA
• 2018 All-America First Team selection at kicker by Don Hansen Football Committee and D2CCA
• 2018 All-America Second Team selection at kicker by D2Football.com
• 2018 All-America Honorable Mention selection at punter by Don Hansen Football Committee
• 2017 All-America Honorable Mention selection at punter by Don Hansen Football Committee
• 2X All-MIAA First Team selection at kicker (2018 & 2019) and All-MIAA First Team selection at punter (2018)
• 2017 All-MIAA Third Team at punter• 2X finalist for Fred Mitchell Outstanding Placekicker Award
• FHSU career record holder for field goals made with 47• FHSU single-season record holder for points (123 in 2018, field goals made (28 in 2018, and made PATs (52 in 2019)
• Led NCAA Division II in field goals made (28) and all NCAA levels in field goals made per game (2.33) in 2018
• Set MIAA record for field goals made in a season (28) in 2018• 7X MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week (5 times in 2018, 2 times in 2019)
• Second in career punting average at FHSU with 42.4 yards per attempt