Robbie Gould announced retirement and issues 8 – words about 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan
Gould explained that he was retiring the cleats because “all good things must come to an end.”
Robbie Gould, a former kicker for the San Francisco 49ers, announced his retirement on Thursday.
Gould will be remembered as one of the greatest kickers of all time. He played from 2005 to 2022 and had 11 seasons in which he made at least 85 percent of his kicks.
His time in the Bay Area was not always easy. Gould joined the 49ers in 2017. The organization put the franchise tag on him in February 2019, prompting Gould to request a trade a few months later.
Gould kicked two game-winning kicks that season, both in December, earning him Special Teams Player of the Month honors. But it was Gould’s postseason dominance that cemented his legacy. His two Super Bowl kicks that year brought his playoff career record to 15-for-15. Gould hit the game-winning 45-yard field goals two seasons later, in 2021.
Against Seattle and Dallas in the 2022 playoffs, Gould needed to make four field goals. He was a model of consistency.
In the Player’s Tribune, Gould wrote about his time with the 49ers. Gould stated that he wanted to sign as a free agent because of Kyle Shanahan and the Niners culture:
“The following season, as a free agent, I went to San Francisco to join the Niners.” It just took two words to persuade me that I wanted to play in that city. Kyle. Shanahan. Combined with his personal talent as possibly the best instructor in the business? I had no reservations about becoming a member of that culture. San Francisco may not have had the best record at the time, but the prospect of what that team may become in the long run impressed me.”
When asked what his favorite kick was, the former Chicago Bears kicker chose to stick it to the Packers one more time:
The year is 2022. Playoffs. Green Bay versus San Francisco. Lambeau Field is in Wisconsin. It’s 10-10. The ball is on the right hash. There are four seconds remaining on the clock. Jimmy G. had just led the Niners offense to 44 yards in nine plays against the defending champion Packers. Deebo and Juszczyk made tremendous plays to put us in position to win from 45 yards out and send San Francisco to the NFC Championship.
The temperature was below zero, and it felt precisely like it did when I was playing in Chicago. The ground was soft and the snow was falling. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t matter; as a kicker, it was one of those moments I looked forward to every time I stepped onto the field. And then….
