# Bruce Gossett

Daniel Bruce Gossett (November 9, 1941 - January 27, 2025) was an American professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1974 with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.

## Early life

Gossett was born on November 9, 1941, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. His father was a professional soccer playing in the 1930s and 1940s. Gossett attended Cecil Township High School.

## College

Gossett attended Ferrum College (then Ferrum Junior College), where he was a kicker and quarterback; Clarion University; Duquesne University; and transferred from Ferrum to Richmond University (now University of Richmond), where he was a field goal kicker and punter. In 2018, he was inducted into the Ferrum College Hall of Fame.

## Professional career
### Los Angeles Rams

After going undrafted in the 1964 NFL draft, Gossett was picked up by the Los Angeles Rams as a free agent in 1964. He was selected to be their starting kicker for the 1964 season.

#### 1964

In Gossett's first season with the Rams, he successfully made 18 of 24 field goal attempts, as well as 31 of his 33 extra point attempts. His field goal percentage (75.0) led the league, and was at the time the second highest percentage in NFL history for kickers with more than 20 attempts, and the highest percentage in franchise history. For his performance, he was named to the NFL All-Rookie team. Despite his historic rookie season, the Rams would win just 5 games and ultimately not qualify for the playoffs.

#### 1965

In his second year with the Rams, Gossett made 15 of 26 field goal attempts, as well as 30 of 32 extra point attempts. The Rams would win just 4 games in 1965, and would once again miss the playoffs.

#### 1966

In 1966, Gossett would make just 28 of 49 field-goal attempts, though he also made all 29 of his extra-point attempts. He led the NFL in field goals attempted and field goals made. The Rams would ultimately miss the playoffs with an 8-6 record, earning their first winning record since 1958. Despite this, Gossett was the league's leader in scoring for the season with 113 points. Gossett was ultimately nominated to participate in the Pro Bowl for his performance during the season.

#### 1967

In 1967, Gossett made 20 of 43 field goal attempts, and made all 48 of his extra-point attempts, again scoring over 100 points for the season. With 11 wins, the Rams became the first winners in the new Coastal division, and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. In the Western Conference Championship game, Gossett would make one extra-point attempt as the Rams would lose to the Green Bay Packers 7-28. Due to their loss, they would appear in the Playoff Bowl, where Gossett would successfully make 3 field goals and 3 extra-point attempts as the Rams beat Cleveland 30-6. Gossett would ultimately be nominated to play in the 1968 Pro Bowl, marking his second (and last) nomination for the Pro Bowl.

#### 1968

In 1968, Gossett made 17 of 31 field goal attempts, and made all 37 of his extra-point attempts. Despite having 10 wins, the Rams, and Gossett, would end the season 2nd in their division, and would ultimately miss the playoffs as a result of losing their last two matchups. In only five years with the Rams, he had become the team's second all-time leading scorer, and set the team record for total field goals (98).

#### 1969

In 1969, Gossett's final season with the Rams, he made 22 of 34 field goal attempts, as well as all 36 of his extra-point attempts, again scoring over 100 points. The Rams would end the regular season 1st in their division with 11 wins, and would move on to the Western Conference Championship game, where they would lose to the Minnesota Vikings 20-23, with Gossett making two of three field goal attempts. As a result, they would move on to the Playoff Bowl, where they shutout the Dallas Cowboys 31-0.
When he left the Rams after 1969, he was the all-time leader in field goals (120), and is still (as of 2025) fourth on the list of most field goals for the Rams.

### San Francisco 49ers

In January 1970, Gossett was traded to the San Francisco 49ers by the Rams for Kermit Alexander and a second round draft pick.

#### 1970

In his first season with the 49ers, Gossett made 21 of 31 field-goal attempts, as well as 39 of his 41 extra-point attempts, marking his first season not successfully converting all of his extra-point attempts since 1965. Under the 49ers' 10 wins, Gossett and the team would make it to the playoffs, beating the Vikings 17-14. Gossett would make one field goal and both extra-point attempts in the victory. In the NFC Championship Game, Gossett would put up a field goal and an extra point as the 49ers would fall 10-17 to the Dallas Cowboys.

#### 1971

In 1971, Gossett would make 23 of 36 field-goal attempts, as well as all 32 of his extra-point attempts. The 49ers would again make the playoffs this season, beating the Washington Redskins in the Divisional Playoff game 24-20. In the NFC Championship game, in a rematch against the Dallas Cowboys, Gossett would put up the team's only points, making one field goal in the 3-14 loss.

#### 1972

In 1972, Gossett would make 18 of 29 field-goal attempts, as well as 41 of 42 extra-point attempts. The 49ers, with 8 wins, would make it to the playoffs, facing the Dallas Cowboys once again, this time in the Divisional Playoff game. Despite initially leading 28-13, Roger Staubach came off the bench to rally the Cowboys who would put up 17 unanswered points and ultimately win the matchup 30-28. Gossett would put up 4 extra points in the loss, but crucially missed both field-goal attempts in the loss.

#### 1973

In 1973, Gossett would have his best season in field goal percentage, putting up a career high 26 of 33 field-goal attempts made, as well as all 26 extra-point attempts. He had a 54-yard field goal, which was the longest in the NFL that year, and his 78.8 field goal percentage also led the league. The 49ers would ultimately miss the playoffs after putting up a 5-9 record, having lost 6 of their last 8 games. He served as an NFL player representative in 1973 and 1974. On September 23, 1973, he kicked a 49ers then-record five field goals in a game (along with three extra points).

#### 1974

In 1974, Gossett's final season, he would make just 11 of 24 field-goal attempts, as well as 25 of his 27 field-goal attempts. The 49ers would miss the playoffs for a second straight season, putting up a 6-8 record after losing 7 straight games during the season.

### Honors

Gossett was named first team All-Conference by The Sporting News in 1964, 1966 and 1973, and was named first team All-Conference by Pro Football Weekly in 1973.

### Retirement

Following the end of the 1974 season, Gossett would retire from playing in the NFL. In his career, he scored 1,031 points, and was 6th on the NFL's all-time scoring list when he retired. He is now (as of 2025), 67th all-time in scoring. He is 56th all-time in extra points made (as of 2025). He had never missed a game during his career, having played 154 consecutive contests. He scored at least 100 points in six seasons, and also had perfect accuracy on extra-point attempts in six seasons. He also put up a perfect extra-point percentage in the postseason.
| Bold | Career high |

### Regular season

| Year | Team | GP | Overall FGs | Overall FGs | Overall FGs | Overall FGs | PATs | PATs | PATs | Points |
| Year | Team | GP | Lng | FGM | FGA | Pct | XPM | XPA | Pct | Points |
| 1964 | LAR | 14 | 44 | 18 | 24 | 75.0 | 31 | 33 | 93.9 | 85 |
| 1965 | LAR | 14 | 49 | 15 | 26 | 57.7 | 30 | 32 | 93.8 | 75 |
| 1966 | LAR | 14 | 48 | 28 | 49 | 57.1 | 29 | 29 | 100.0 | 113 |
| 1967 | LAR | 14 | 47 | 20 | 43 | 46.5 | 48 | 48 | 100.0 | 108 |
| 1968 | LAR | 14 | 37 | 17 | 31 | 54.8 | 37 | 37 | 100.0 | 88 |
| 1969 | LAR | 14 | 44 | 22 | 34 | 64.7 | 36 | 36 | 100.0 | 102 |
| 1970 | SF | 14 | 48 | 21 | 31 | 67.7 | 39 | 41 | 95.1 | 102 |
| 1971 | SF | 14 | 48 | 23 | 36 | 63.9 | 32 | 32 | 100.0 | 101 |
| 1972 | SF | 14 | 50 | 18 | 29 | 62.1 | 41 | 42 | 97.6 | 95 |
| 1973 | SF | 14 | 54 | 26 | 33 | 78.8 | 26 | 26 | 100.0 | 104 |
| 1974 | SF | 14 | 46 | 11 | 24 | 45.8 | 25 | 27 | 92.6 | 58 |
| Career | Career | 154 | 54 | 219 | 360 | 60.8 | 374 | 383 | 97.7 | 1031 |

### Postseason

| Year | Team | GP | Overall FGs | Overall FGs | Overall FGs | Overall FGs | PATs | PATs | PATs | Points |
| Year | Team | GP | Lng | FGM | FGA | Pct | XPM | XPA | Pct | Points |
| 1967 | LAR | 1 | — | 0 | 3 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 1 |
| 1969 | LAR | 1 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 66.7 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 8 |
| 1970 | SF | 2 | 40 | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 9 |
| 1971 | SF | 2 | 28 | 2 | 3 | 66.7 | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 9 |
| 1972 | SF | 1 | — | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 4 |
| Career | Career | 7 | 40 | 6 | 15 | 40.0 | 13 | 13 | 100.0 | 31 |

## Personal life

During his playing career, Gossett worked for Moody Funds in the off-season. After retiring, he managed national advertising for a San Francisco Bay Area television station. A golf tournament benefitting the March of Dimes was named in his honor and occurred for 14 years, the “Bruce Gossett Celebrity Golf Tournament”.

## Death

On February 4, 2025, the Los Angeles Rams announced that Bruce Gossett had passed away.