SANTA CLARA — Robbie Gould, the 49ers’ reliable and clutch kicker the previous six seasons, announced his retirement Thursday via a first-person story on The Players’ Tribune platform.
In Gould’s retrospective look at his 18-year career – headlined “0:00” — he boiled down his best kick to the 45-yard game-winner in snowy Lambeau Field that lifted the 2021 49ers to a divisional-round playoff win over the Green Bay Packers as time expired. He kept that ball and all his walk-off kicks for the 49ers, except one: his 2019 winner in New Orleans, which he gifted to the York family after the death of their son, Tony.
Gould left the 49ers as a free agent in March and went unsigned, although he did draw interest this season, including a reported workout last month with the New York Giants, for whom he played in 2016 between his tenures with the Chicago Bears (2005-15) and the 49ers.
Gould scored 1,961 points in his career, good for 10th in NFL history. He sits ninth all-time in career field-goal percentage (86.4%).
He ranks first in 49ers’ history by makng 87.5% of his field-goal attempts, and his 161 field goals rank second in team history behind Ray Wersching (190; 1977-87).
To replace Gould, the 49ers drafted Jake Moody in the third round out of Michigan. He has made 17-of-20 field-goal attempts, including his past seven since back-to-back misses in losses at Cleveland and Minnesota. He’s made all 43 of his point-after kicks.
Gould, a Penn State product, initially signed with the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted rookie in 2005 before the Bears tracked him down at a construction job in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.
Gould arrived as part of the 49ers’ initial free agency class in 2017. His 21 playoff field goals with the 49ers are the most in their franchise history. He made 161 of 184 field-goal attempts and 221-of-230 point-after kicks the past six seasons. He has never missed a postseason kick in his NFLcareer (29 field goals, 39 point-after tries).
His best came in January 2002, at Lambeau Field, locked in a 10-10 game with four seconds on the clock. Gould, in his retirement post, recalled that kick: “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. “
Outside the locker room afterward, Gould did not immediately acknowledge it as the biggest kick in his career, instead naming an overtime winner for the 2006 Chicago Bears in a divisional playoff win over the Seattle Seahawks en route to the Super Bowl. He was in his second season, and the Bears hadn’t won a playoff game in 11 years. That experience emboldened him throughout his career.
Gould turned 41 on Wednesday. He lives with his wife, Lauren, and their three sons near Chicago.
Gould said he was attracted to the 49ers simply to play for coach Kyle Shanahan, “arguably the best coach in the business, combined with that offense? I had zero hesitation about wanting to be part of that culture.”
Gould ranks fourth in 49ers’ scoring history (704 points), behind Wersching (1,130), Tommy Davis (979) and Mike Cofer (704). Gould’s 145 points in 2017 are second-most in a season behind David Akers (166, in 2011). Gould owns the top two field-goal conversion percentages in a season: 97.1% in 2018 (33-of-34), and 95.1% in 2017 (39-of-41).