Kicking Goulds Meet in Santa Clara
SANTA CLARA — Robbie and Chris Gould, Central Mountain High School graduates now in the NFL, had a chance to visit when their respective teams met in a preseason exhibition game at San Francisco’s Levi Stadium Saturday night.
Robbie, is in his 12th year in the NFL, his first year as the kicker for the 49ers while Chris is in his third year on the Denver Broncos staff, his first as the team’s assistant special teams coach.
Denver got in a West Coast workout last week before the two team’s exhibition and after practice Chris spent time with Robbie and his two young sons. Their relationship was featured in a story on the Broncos’ website, http://mdenverbroncos.com, highlighting the diverse path the two took to the NFL. It also touched on the brothers’ competitive rivalry, Robbie stating he was surprised Chris did not bring his cleats and challenge him to a competition.
For the record, Denver won the Saturday game by a 33-14 score, its field goal kicker, Brandon McManus going 4-for-4 in field goals and 3-for-3 in extra points. Robbie Gould, meanwhile, did not have a field goal opportunity and went 1-for-1 in extra points.
Prior to coming to Denver, Chris Gould served as the special teams quality control coach for Syracuse University where he developed Broncos punter Riley Dixon, whom he coached from 2013-2014. During this time, Dixon became one of the nation’s best at his position.
Prior to his stint at Syracuse, Gould coached special teams at Elmhurst College in 2012 after a three-year career as a placekicker in the Arena Football League from 2010-2012, where he was a member of the Arizona Rattlers’ 2012 Arena Bowl XXV championship team.
Special teams is familiar territory for the Gould family as brother Robbie played the 2016 season for the New York Giants after playing for the Chicago Bears since 2005 where he is in the record book as the Bears’ all-time leading scorer. Both are graduates of Central Mountain High School. Robbie went on to kick at Penn State while Chris did likewise at Virginia.
