From Penn State walk-on to Super Bowl kicker, Robbie Gould is making memories at the big game

When the Super Bowl fanfare is over and the lights at Hard Rock Stadium have been turned out, Robbie Gould wants to make sure he’s got plenty of digital mementos.

In the days leading up to his second Super Bowl appearance, Gould, a 15-year NFL veteran with a middle-aged man’s hairline, has acquired the photography habits of a social media maven.

From walkways to buildings, the 37-year-old Gould wants to remember it all — and he’s willing to shrug off some good-natured ribbing from his younger San Francisco 49ers teammates to make sure he can.

“After we won the NFC championship, I went back and tried to find pictures of the last time we won the NFC championship (with the Chicago Bears),” Gould said in an interview Wednesday. “There were no pictures. I didn’t have any moments and memories. So all of the young kids who are social media gurus are laughing at me for documenting everything.”

Gould is one of five former Penn State football players who will take the field Sunday evening in Super Bowl LIV, along with fellow 49ers Anthony Zettel and Kevin Givens. Stefen Wisniewski and Jordan Lucas will suit up for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Initially a walk-on before eventually earning a scholarship, Gould played for Joe Paterno from 2001-04, and is ninth on Penn State’s all-time scoring list.

Nearly two decades later, he’s parlayed that walk-on spot into one of the most lucrative kicking careers in NFL history — but how he started is never far from his mind.

“I’ve kind of had to earn everything,” said Gould, the only NFL player to come out of Mill Hall’s Central Mountain High School. “I’ve always worked for everything that I’ve ever gotten.

“I think it’s just unique because not a lot of kids coming from my hometown have gone Division I for football, there’s not a lot of people playing in the World Series. So it’s nice to represent the area and, obviously, put it on the map.”

In the leadup, there’s little time for reflection for Gould. That will come afterward, with the help of the photos and videos he collects.

Now, he’s intent on staying in the moment, knowing he could be days away from lining up for a kick that could decide the Super Bowl and end a whirlwind season in victory.

Gould made just 12 of the 19 field goals he attempted through San Francisco’s first six games, while the 49ers shuffled through a rotating cast of long snappers. Since regular long snapper Kyle Nelson returned from a suspension, Gould has connected on 16 of his 17 attempts, including a perfect 5-for-5 mark in the playoffs.

Not many are more equipped to handle the pressure that comes with kicking in the Super Bowl than Gould, who has made all 13 of the field goals and all 27 of the extra points he’s attempted across nine career playoff games in his career.

In the 2007 Super Bowl, Gould made a 44-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, though his Chicago Bears lost 29-17 to the Indianapolis Colts.

There’s an aspect to that playoff success Gould can’t quite put his finger on, he admits, but he knows he’s remained mentally strong in those moments.

“I think I get myself in a mindset where nothing really bothers me,” Gould said. “Nothing really shakes me, and I know that if I score the points, it puts a little more pressure on the opposing team.”

Gould enters that mental space only when he needs to. Too much time spent focused and intense will lead to exhaustion, he reasons, so he hasn’t been afraid to have a bit of fun, telling his teammates that it hasn’t even felt like he’s been at the Super Bowl this week.

He’ll have 18 family members watching from the stands when Sunday rolls around, Gould said, adding that his kids can’t wait to show up wearing their Jimmy Garoppolo jerseys.

A victory would make him the second member of the Gould family to earn an NFL championship ring, after his brother, Chris, won a Super Bowl as a member of the Denver Broncos’ coaching staff in February 2016.

“I’ve got to even the score with my brother,” Gould said with a laugh.

Whenever the 49ers offense takes the field on Sunday, though, the joking around and loose frame of mind will give way to a sharp focus. Jim Ivler, Gould’s longtime agent and a fellow Penn State alumnus, has watched that ability to flip a switch make Gould one of the most reliable kickers in NFL history.

Said Ivler: “There’s no player I’ve represented in my career that I would have more confidence in handling a big moment than Robbie Gould.”

David Eckert is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 5:28 PM.