The Redskins completed the signing of kicker Ola Kimrin on Saturday, ending an odyssey in which Kimrin traveled thousands of miles to Sweden on Wednesday only to return to the United States less than an hour after he had arrived on Thursday.
Kimrin will serve as place kicker for the Redskins in Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears.
To make room for Kimrin, the Redskins released tight end Brian Kozlowski.
Kimrin, a native of Sweden, is a veteran of NFL Europe who also played with the Redskins during the 2004 preseason. He has an accurate and strong leg and will be a solid replacement for the injured John Hall, who was ruled out for Sunday's game against Chicago due to a groin injury.
During the 2004 preseason, Kimrin was 4-for-4 on field goals and 4-for-4 on PATs. He kicked a game-winning 39-yard field goal to defeat the Denver Broncos 20-17 in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 9.
Kimrin had decided to fly home to Malmo, Sweden on Wednesday from Boston, where he had been living after being released from the Redskins. Kimrin was first released after training camp, then resigned to the practice squad when Hall suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2. With Hall healthy, Kimrin was released a second time.
When Hall suffered his injury during Thursday afternoon's practice, team officials quickly tried to locate Kimrin. Just 30 minutes after he had arrived back in Sweden, Kimrin received a phone message from the Redskins that his services would be needed for the game against Chicago this Sunday.
Kimrin made travel arrangements and returned to the United States, arriving at Redskins Park on Friday.
Kimrin, 6-3 and 230 pounds, finished his third season in NFL Europe with Cologne, connecting on all four of his field goal attempts. He spent the 2001 and 2002 seasons with Frankfurt of NFLE.
Kimrin also spent preseason 2003 with Dallas and 2002 with Denver, but he was released both times prior to the season. While with Denver in 2002, he kicked a 65-yard field goal in a preseason game, which would have broken the NFL record for longest field goal had it been in the regular season.
In 2002 with the Galaxy, he kicked 12-of-24 field goals and 20-of-22 PATs for 56 points and was 10-of-13 on field goals and seven-for-seven on PATs for 37 points in 2001. In 2001 he was also named Player of the Week two times.
During college, Kimrin kicked for University of Texas-El Paso.
