FSU Alums: Is Graham Gano’s career over after season ending decision?

Former FSU kicker Graham Gano could be hanging up his kicking cleats for good after the Carolina Panthers put him on the IR for the entire season.

For the FSU football team, the stigma that came with all those wide rights against the rival Miami Hurricanes has also led to the program producing some of the top kickers in the college games – names like Sebastian Janikowski, Dustin Hopkins and most recently a man by the name of Roberto Aguayo, who helped kick the Seminoles to a national title.

Of all the great legs that have worn the garnet and gold, maybe the one that has had a great pro career would be that of Graham Gano – who has spent 10 seasons in the NFL, most of them with the Carolina Panthers where he has been on the roster for the team’s Super Bowl appearance during the 2015 season.

Now, the former FSU star and Lou Groza Award winner as the top college kicker from 2008 is going to be sitting on the sidelines for the 2019 NFL season – and possibly for the rest of time as his pro career could have ended with the move.

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On Friday, the Panthers placed Gano on the injured reserve list that has kept him off the field for the entire preseason – ending his season before it began as Gano will not be eligible to play for the entire 2019 campaign of the team that he holds several records for, including the longest field goal in franchise history.

"“Both Graham and the team were optimistic throughout this process that his leg would improve enough to allow him to kick,” general manager Marty Hurney said to Panthers.com. “Unfortunately, Graham still had pain in his plant leg each time he tried to resume kicking. These are tough decisions…”"

It’s the same injury that forced Gano to the IR at the end of the 2018 season, ending it with several games to play. The FSU football legend has spent the last seven seasons in Carolina after spending the previous three in Washington.

In his pro career, Gano has missed just 15 extra points in all 10 of his seasons – with 12 of them in the last four years – while converting on over 82 percent of field goal attempts, including a 63 yarder last season that stands as the longest in the previous 24 seasons of Panthers football.

Of course, we all know the NFL stands for ‘Not For Long’ in the eyes of many – and in the eyes of some, a kicker with over a decade in the league that can’t play for an extended period might have worn out his welcome.