Former 49ers kicker Robbie Gould is hanging up his pads after an 18-year NFL career.
In a post on the Players’ Tribune published one day after his 41st birthday, Gould wrote “it is with the utmost regard and appreciation that I officially announce my retirement from the National Football League.”
Gould put together a magnificent career where he spent 11 seasons with the Chicago Bears, one season with the New York Giants, and his final six years with the 49ers. He retires without ever having missed a kick in the playoffs – he was a perfect 29-for-29 on field goals and 39-for-39 on extra point tries in 16 playoff games.
For his career he drilled 86.5 percent of his 517 field goal tries, including a league best and full season career-high 97.1 percent with San Francisco in the 2018 season.
Despite the bulk of his career taking place in Chicago, Gould points to a postseason kick with the 49ers as his favorite. Via the Players’ Tribune:
People often ask me if I have a favorite or most memorable kick, and it really is such a hard question to answer. So many of them have such significance to me from different points in my career. But if I have to pick, here it goes:
January of 2022. Playoffs. Green Bay vs. San Fran. Lambeau Field. It’s 10–10. Ball on the right hash. Four seconds left on the clock. Jimmy G. had just taken the Niners offense 44 yards in nine plays against the top-seeded Packers. Deebo and Juszczyk had huge plays to give us a shot to win it from 45 and send San Francisco to the NFC Championship.
The temperature was below zero, and it felt exactly the way it did when I played in the Windy City. Snow was falling, and the ground was soft. It wasn’t ideal, but none of that mattered; as a kicker, it was one of those moments I lived for every time I stepped on the field. And then….
We nailed it right down the middle.
Finding a kicker to replace Gould was one of the 49ers’ top offseason priorities and they used the No. 99 overall pick to select Michigan’s Jake Moody.
Reliability at the kicker spot isn’t easy to find, and Gould offered that every time he suited up during his 18 NFL seasons. He retires No. 8 all-time in made field goals, No. 13 in field goal attempts and No. 9 in field goal percentage. Gould is also the all-time leader in field goal percentage in the postseason after drilling 100 percent of his playoff tries – which may be the stat that ultimately defines his career.
