Detroit Lions change kickers; Nate Freese out, Alex Henery in
By Phil Watson
The post-Jason Hanson era is turning out to be problematic for the Detroit Lions.
The Lions cut rookie Nate Freese on Monday, signing former Philadelphia Eagles kicker Alex Henery to replace him, according to their website.
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Freese was awful in three games this season, missing four of the seven field goals he attempted, including a 41-yarder at the end of the first half against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday that could have given Detroit a 15-7 halftime lead.
The Lions used a seventh-round pick to get Freese, who kicked at Boston College, in the draft in May. But he was 0-for-4 on kicks longer than 39 yards.
Freese beat out Giorgio Tavecchio in training camp.
Henery kicked for three seasons in Philadelphia, hitting 86 percent of his field goals (74-for-86), with a career-long of 51 (in 2011 at Dallas and 2013 at Minnesota).
He was a fourth-round pick in 2011 out of Nebraska, but lost the job in training camp to Cody Parkey, whom the Eagles acquired in an Aug. 20 trade from the Indianapolis Colts.
Henery set an NCAA record for field-goal percentage while at Nebraska, making 89.5 percent.
The Lions had veteran David Akers handling the kicking last season, the first year Hanson hadn’t been the kicker for Detroit since 1992.
Hanson retired after a 21-year career with 2,150 points and made 82.4 percent of his field goal attempts (495-for-665) in his long career.
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