GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Jake Moody missed an extra-point attempt in sixth grade and it bothered him even after a photo showed the ball teed up sideways.
San Francisco’s kicker hasn’t missed since.
By hitting all six of his extra point kicks in the 49ers’ 45-29 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Moody has made 53 straight PATs — the most since the NFL moved the kick back to the 15-yard line in 2015.
“I mean, it’s good — it’s what I’m shooting for,” Moody said. “But that’s my job, obviously, not trying to miss any. If I can keep that going, hit lots of extra points every game, that usually means we’re winning, so hopefully we keep that up.”
The Niners raised a few eyebrows by using a third-round pick on Moody at this year’s NFL draft, making him the first kicker drafted within the first three rounds since Tampa Bay took Roberto Aguayo in the second in 2016.
Despite being hampered by a quadriceps injury late in preseason camp, Moody got his rookie season off to a strong start, becoming the first kicker in NFL history to hit three field goals and three PATs in each of his first three career games.
Fans started to question the Niners’ draft decision when Moody missed what would have been a winning field goal in a loss to Cleveland that ended San Francisco’s undefeated start at five games.
The 24-year-old has been steady since missing twice in the Oct. 15 loss, even if the high-scoring 49ers (11-3) haven’t needed his field-goal kicking.
Moody hadn’t attempted a field goal in the previous two games before connecting against the Cardinals (3-11). The 43-yard kick in the fourth quarter gave him 107 points on the season, breaking the team rookie record of 105 set by Doug Brien in 1994 with three games still left in the season.
Moody’s streak of 53 straight made extra points is one more than Stephen Gostkowski had for New England in 2015.
“If you’re not focused, you’re not approaching it as any other kind of field goal, you might get a little lackadaisical and hit a bad kick,” Moody said. “So it’s just important to stay focused for every single kick.”
Moody certainly has been.
He doesn’t recall missing an extra point in high school and had a perfect five-year run at Michigan, hitting all 148 of his kicks. Moody won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker in 2021 and holds numerous Michigan records, including career points with 355.
How good has Moody been? He has only missed one PAT attempt in practice during his rookie season — and even that had him fuming.
“It was a super windy day, but I’m trying to make every kick, even in practice,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what it is, a game or practice by myself, if I miss a kick I’m going to be (angry).”
Thankfully for Moody, he doesn’t miss much.
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