BIOGRAPHY
Robert Paul Gould III was born on December 6th, 1982, in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. He is a kicker in the NFL.
He played with the Chicago Bears from 2005 to 2015, during which he became the franchise's all-time leading scorer. Gould was originally signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Penn State. Gould is the second most accurate kicker in NFL History, only behind Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens.
Gould was born to Cheryl and Robert Gould in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. His father was a three-time All-American soccer player who led Lock Haven University to a Division II national championship in 1980 and was drafted by the St. Louis Steamers in the early 1980s. He attended Central Mountain High School in Mill Hall, Pennsylvania, where he won letters in football, soccer, basketball, and track.
Gould enrolled in Penn State University, where he played for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. Although originally interested in professional soccer, he eventually chose football and asked his high school principal to send a letter of recommendation to Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, who invited him to try out as a freshman walk-on. In four years with the Nittany Lions, he converted 115-of-121 extra point attempts and 39-of-61 field goal attempts.
After going undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft, the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots signed Gould prior to the 2005 NFL preseason even though they already had established Super Bowl-winning kicker Adam Vinatieri. Following his expected preseason release from the Patriots, Gould signed with the Baltimore Ravens only to be waived three weeks later. He then took a sabbatical from football, working construction for M&R Contracting in Mill Hall, Pennsylvania.
His younger brother, Chris Gould, was a kicker for the University of Virginia, and in the Arena Football League and is currently an assistant special teams coach for the Denver Broncos. The two also have a cousin, Brandon Thomas Gould, who played on the offensive line for Bethune-Cookman University.
On December 1, 2013, Gould's wife Lauren gave birth to their first child, a son.
On March 9, 2017, Gould signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers. On February 26, 2019, the 49ers placed the franchise tag on Gould. On July 15, Gould and the 49ers reached an agreement on a four-year, $19 million extension with $10.5 million guaranteed.