A lot of people have held out hope that veteran kicker Robbie Gould may yet find his way back home to Chicago. It seems like such a storybook tale. The son cast out after falling from grace returns from a journey to save his home. Books have been written about less. For a moment, it looks like the wishes may come true.
Gould declared he would cease contract negotiations with the San Francisco 49ers and demanded a trade. Something GM John Lynch declined was going to happen. Since then the 37-year old kicker has remained silent, though a loud and clear message was sent when he sold his Illinois home for $1.15 million. It seems he may be resigning himself to his fate.
Is this a bad thing though? Another former Bears kicker doesn’t think so. Kevin Butler, 1985 Super Bowl champion and team legend stated on ESPN 1000 that the best thing for Gould’s legacy was to stay as far away from Chicago as he can.
“I’ve always said it to Robbie, be careful what you wish for sometimes, because it’s not easy to kick in Chicago. It’s certainly not easy to kick in San Francisco, but he’s found a situation out there where he’s been as good as there is. Can you duplicate that by coming back to Chicago? I don’t know. … It’s a scary thing to mess with your legacy.”
Kevin Butler speaks from experience on Robbie Gould matter
If anybody knows what he’s talking about, it’s Butler. He kicked in Chicago for 11 years, averaging a 73.2% accuracy rate on field goals during that span. Then in 1996 he left for Arizona. Though his time there was cut short by injury, he immediately improved to 75.9%. Gould has hit 82 of his 85 field goals since leaving Chicago.
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The truth hurts, but it’s still the truth. Soldier Field can be an unforgiving environment for kickers. Though it’s hard to understand what legacy Butler is trying to protect. Gould isn’t going to the Hall of Fame even if he has a number of good years in San Francisco ahead of him.
If he wants to return home and finish on a high note this time, then he should be allowed that. Either way, it doesn’t seem to matter. The 49ers won’t let him leave regardless.
