Former Penn State Football Star Robbie Gould Announces Retirement
Former Penn State football kicker Robbie Gould has retired from professional football after 18 seasons in the NFL, he announced Thursday via Instagram. Gould, who played at Penn State from 2001-04, remains one of the best placekickers in school history.
“‘All good things must come to an end,'” Gould wrote in his post. “The meaning of that saying is pretty simple, really. Great things in life cannot last forever. Everything is temporary.”
Gould was the starting kicker for the Nittany Lions for all four years of his college career. In those four years, he made 115 of his 121 extra-point attempts. On the field goal side of things, he wasn’t as successful as he only went 39 of 61 on field goals in his career. He’d finish in the top 10 of nearly every single Penn State kicking statistic, with his extra points being seventh most all-time. His 232 points scored are good for the 10th-most in program history.
Gould went undrafted after college and signed a free-agent deal with the New England Patriots. He was waived before the season began but signed a practice squad deal with the Baltimore Ravens, however, that deal only lasted three weeks.
After the Chicago Bears kicker was injured during one of their early game that season, the Bears signed Gould to be their starting kicker, and Gould never looked back. He played well enough in his rookie year to earn the starting job the next season in 2006, when he had one of his best years as a pro. Gould was named to his one and only Pro Bowl and was the First-Team All-Pro kicker. That same year Gould played in his first Super Bowl, ultimately losing to the Indianapolis Colts.
Gould remained in Chicago until before the 2016 season when he was cut by the Bears. He signed with the New York Giants to kick for them for a season, before signing with the San Francisco 49ers in the following offseason. Gould finished his career out with the 49ers kicking for them for six seasons, remaining one of the best in the league during his final seasons.
Over 18 seasons, Gould ranks eighth all-time in field goals made with 447 and 10th all-time in total NFL points with 1,961. He even has the NFL postseason record for most field goals made without a miss, going 29-29 in his career.
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