LAS VEGAS — Jake Moody has had dreams of being like Adam Vinatieri or Harrison Butker, delivering the game-winning field goal when stakes are the highest.
“I mean, that’s the stuff you dream of as a kicker,” Moody said at NFL Opening Night Monday at Allegiant Stadium. “Growing up as a kick, kicking at a high school field, messing around, you dream of that.
“There’s three seconds left, we’re tied or down two and this kick is to win the Super Bowl. I’ve run that situation through my mind millions of times.”
A segment of 49ers fans, on the other hand, are having nightmares at the thought of Moody being another Scott Norwood and costing their team a sixth Super Bowl championship.
The 49ers made Moody a third-round draft pick to replace Robbie Gould, whose claim to fame was never missing a postseason kick. Butker, the place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs since 2017, has missed a few in the playoffs but not many. He’s 28-for-32 and his 27-yarder last season with eight seconds to play beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII.
Much earlier in the game, Butker missed from 42 yards out — his only miss in six attempts over three Super Bowls.
If Moody were to make a game-winner against Kansas City in Super Bowl LVIII, it would instantly validate the 49ers’ draft-day decision. Miss with the game on the line and the stigma will stick with him forever. Norwood missed wide right from 47 yards for the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV, giving the New York Giants a 20-19 win.
It’s probably the most famous missed field goal in NFL history. It’s not fair because there are plenty of plays during the course of a game that can determine wins and losses. But kickers know the deal. It’s hero or goat and nothing in between.
Butker has been an integral part of the Chiefs’ success. He was one of 10 players who received a podium on NFL Opening Night. Moody was relegated to the boundary area, milling about with teammates and swarms of reporters. Moody played in the College Football Playoff twice while at Michigan so he’s no stranger to a large media presence.
The Super Bowl, however, is on an entirely different level.
“This is a lot crazier but a lot cooler as well,” Moody said.
It turns out that one of the kickers Moody emulated at Michigan was Butker, who along with Jim O’Brien of the Baltimore Colts (32 yards in Super Bowl V) and Vinatieri twice (48 yards in Super Bowl XXXVI against the St. Louis Rams and 41 yards in Super Bowl XXXVIII against Carolina) are the only kickers to have won Super Bowls in the game’s final seconds.
Jake Moody (4) of the 49ers gets in some practice time with punter/holder Mitch Wishnowsky.
“Back in college Butker was one of three guys I would look at, along with Justin Tucker and Brett Maher,” Moody said. “No kicker kicks exactly the same, so I would look at certain things with the three of them.”
Moody had a solid rookie season, going 21-for-25 on a team that tied for the NFL lead with 61 touchdowns. There were enough hiccups to make fans nervous although Moody has always had the public backing of coach Kyle Shanahan.
He missed from 41 yards in the final seconds in a 19-17 loss to Cleveland. He had a missed extra point and a blocked field goal attempt in the divisional playoff game against Green Bay. With the 49ers rolling up a lot of big wins, Moody hasn’t had the signature moment of a true game-winner.
Now the pressure of a Super Bowl has been thrown into the mix. Butker was 33-for-35 on field goal attempts this season and 38-for-38 on extra points. He set a rookie record with 38 field goals in 2017 and has a lifetime percentage of 89.1 percent.
Moody and Butker have never met, although Moody hopes to get a few minutes to talk on the field before the Super Bowl.
“I’m sure it will be an amazing experience for him,” Butker said. “I obviously remember my first Super Bowl and all that was going on. Jake played at a big school at Michigan. I was at Georgia Tech, not so many eyes on us. But it’s the Super Bowl. It’s the biggest game you can play in and if I gave him any advice it would be to just do what you’ve been doing, stick to your normal routine and don’t get too far outside yourself.”
At the same time, Butker employs another interesting strategy of fabricating pressure on himself during the week.
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“I try to make every kick a big kick so when I get to a Super Bowl game-winner I’m able to calm myself and handle that,” Butker said. “I try to even make myself nervous and anxious in practice so when I get into a game — when it’s hard not to be nervous and anxious — you’re used to that and can perform under those emotions.”
While Moody may have dreamed of kicking the game-winner, it’s not what will be on his mind if the big moment arrives Sunday.
“You don’t want to think about the situation itself,” Moody said. “Trust the routine, trust the process. You’ve kicked a million kicks in your life. The ball is the same size, the goalpost is the same size. It’s nothing different, just do the same routine that got you this far and trust it.”
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