The NFL has had a lot of notable kickers come and go through its ranks in the past 100 years. Trying to sort them all out in a rankings system sounds like a herculean task that would take many hours, days, or weeks. That is what made the recent piece by Pro Football Journal founder John Turney so impressive.
Recently he did an interesting article ranking the greatest kickers before the start of World War II. Naturally this meant the big finale would have to come with his list of names after, right? Indeed that was the case, and the article is getting lots of attention from some respected outlets for its detail.
The list itself includes 48 of the most memorable names to kick the football since 1946. The current leader at #1? None other than Baltimore Ravens star Justin Tucker with Nick Lowery and Morten Andersen right behind him. Adam Vinatieri sat at a surprising 6th.
What Chicago Bears fans may find interesting is that Robbie Gould, the greatest kicker in franchise history, made the list as well.
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Robbie Gould finished ahead of some highly touted names
“Good as Gould” apparently wasn’t just a clever turn of phrase. It was true for most of his career. Gould found a home at the #22 spot in the ranking, making him officially better than over half the names on that list.
“Gould is the most accurate kicker from 50 or more yards ever (.784) and is six for nine (excellent) in 54+ yard attempts. And in what we consider a key range—45-64 he is fourth All-time (.735)
Kickoffs were average to slightly below average and onside success was poor (1 for 19). His late, clutch kick percentage is a bit below the league average, so that has to be scored as a negative.”
Among those he beat out include Matt Stover, Matt Bryant, Sebastian Janikoski, David Akers, and Jason Elam. A number of those guys have Super Bowl rings, don’t forget. Gould may not have one, but it’s not because of him. He constantly kicked the Bears out of a lot of jams in his career. His 49-yard field goal to beat Seattle in the 2006 playoffs is legendary.
He may never reach the Hall of Fame, but he’ll always have his place firmly cemented in Chicago football history as the greatest kicker ever.