The Chicago Bears‘ breakthrough season came to a crushing

ROSEMONT http://www.arizonacardinalsteamonline.com/zach-allen-jersey , Ill. (AP) — As the ball hit the upright and crossbar, Robbie Gould could imagine how Cody Parkey felt. particularly for their embattled kicker.“I’ve been there,” he said. “I’ve missed game-winning kicks, too.”Parkey’s miss off the left upright and crossbar in the closing seconds of a 16-15 wild-card loss to Philadelphia at home turned out to be his final attempt as a member of the Bears. A person familiar with the situation said Friday that the Bears have decided to release him. That figures to fuel more speculation about Gould returning to Chicago.He’s scheduled to become a free agent on March 13. The Bears need a kicker. And the million dollar — or multimillion dollar — question is whether they will bring back their career scoring leader.“The McCaskey family (owners) changed my family’s life,” said Gould, who watched from a suite at Soldier Field with his wife and three young sons as the Bears lost to the Eagles. “They gave us a lot of great opportunities in one of the greatest sports cities you’ll ever find. I’m thankful that they gave me that opportunity. I’ll be forever thankful. My kids will be raised Bears fans. This is home.”Gould spoke Friday at the Chicago Golf Show. He is promoting a software system called Eventlify that helps organizers manage all aspects of golf events.Gould converted more than 85 percent of his field goals and missed just four of his 383 extra points as a member of the Bears from 2005-15. He amassed 1,207 points before general manager Ryan Pace and former coach John Fox let him go just before the start of the 2016 season.In the three years since he has combined to make 82 of 85 field goals for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. Chicago kickers, by comparison, are 57 of 75 in that span.Parkey simply didn’t give the Bears the consistency they’ve been seeking since letting Gould go. Signed to a four-year contract last March, he made 23 of 30 field goals for the third-lowest conversion rate in the NFL. He was 42 of 45 on extra points. Six of his misses, counting the playoffs, hit uprights. And he didn’t endear himself to the team’s hierarchy by appearing on the “Today” show a few days after that playoff loss, a move coach Matt Nagy referred to as “a ‘me’ thing.”Gould might command a rather high price, particularly if the 49ers place the franchise tag on him.“They have the opportunity to get a contract done with me Cullen Gillaspia Jersey ,” he said. “Obviously, they have exclusive rights to talk to me until free agency opens. There’s no reason not to. … At this point, I’m just enjoying being around my kids and not really worried about the football contract.”Gould insisted he has no hard feelings toward the Bears for letting him go. He was shaky in the 2016 preseason after missing six field goals the previous year to match a career high he set as a rookie. But he has been just about automatic the past three years thanks to some adjustments in his footwork. At 36, he plans to play “until they tell me no.”Gould still lives in the Chicago area. His wife Lauren is from here. And in a few weeks, they plan to move into the house in the northwest suburbs built on property purchased just a few days before the Bears cut him.The Bears, meanwhile, went 12-4 to win the NFC North in Nagy’s first season after four straight last-place finishes. Gould called him the “perfect fit” for the organization. He mentioned the connection to Kansas City, where Nagy worked on Andy Reid’s staff, and longtime Bears special teams coordinator Dave Toub has served in the same role since 2013. And he said he also keeps in touch with current Chicago special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.“Once a Bear always a Bear,” he said. “I truly mean that. This is where I spent 11 years of my life playing for an awesome organization. I’ve developed a lot of great relationships throughout the city but also the organization, just like I’ve done in New York, just like I’ve done in San Francisco. Will it happen? I don’t know.” ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — John Elway gave Joe Flacco just what he wanted, a threat to stretch the field, not take his job.The Denver Broncos general manager selected Iowa tight end Noah Fant with the 20th pick Thursday night Rock Ya-Sin Jersey , bypassing a quarterback in the first round of the NFL draft.Elway, who gained an extra second-round pick by trading down 10 spots, said he didn’t consider taking a QB at 10 or 20, much to the surprise of all those prognosticators whose mock drafts had him enamored with Michigan State’s Drew Lock — who’s still on the board heading into Round 2 Friday.“No, no we didn’t,” Elway said. “It was not in the discussion when we got there.”Elway also said he didn’t get any serious offers for star cornerback Chris Harris Jr ., who issued a pay-me-or-trade-me request this week after what he viewed as disrespectful comments by Elway.“We talked to a couple of people, but there’s been no traction,” Elway said.Although there are an abundance of highly touted cornerbacks available Friday, Elway said he wasn’t going to necessarily target one because of Harris’ situation.Fant declared he was “super hyped” to play with Flacco, whom Elway acquired from Baltimore earlier this offseason and recently declared was still in his prime at age 34.Last week, Flacco implored his boss to pick a non-QB in the first round, something Elway said he understood completely.Elway was in a similar spot in 1992 when then-Denver coach Dan Reeves bypassed receiver Carl Pickens and drafted Tommy Maddux much to Elway’s chagrin.“Yeah, how’d that work out,” Elway cracked this week.With Michigan linebacker Devin Bush available http://www.indianapoliscoltsteamonline.com/ben-banogu-jersey , Elway surprisingly moved out of the “blue chip zone” when he traded the 10th overall pick to Pittsburgh for the 20th and 52nd overall selections and a 2020 third-rounder.“We felt it was just too much value to not take,” Elway said. “We had a couple of other options, too. So, we had a lot going on in that 10 minutes. So, we ended up taking the deal with Pittsburgh. …. and then being able to pick up Noah at 20, he can really run and stretch the field, very athletic and a very effective receiving tight end.”Fant and T.J. Hockenson, selected eighth by the Detroit Lions, became the first tight end teammates ever selected in the first round of the same draft.“It’s amazing to have those two great tight ends at the same school,” Elway said.Fant said at the NFL scouting combine, where he outperformed Hockenson in almost every measurement, that he wanted to be the first tight end taken in the draft. But he said he was OK going a dozen spots after Hockenson because he was “super excited, super stoked” to join the Broncos.“And I would argue that I’m in the best situation for a tight end in this draft,” he said.Fant joins a young offense featuring second-year receiver Courtland Sutton and a tight end corps loaded with Big Ten alumni in Jake Butt, Jeff Heuerman and Troy Fumagalli Parris Campbell Jersey , all coming off injuries.“Obviously, we’ve had some health issues at that position,” Elway said.He insisted, however, that his pick was more about what Fant brings to an offense that has struggled for several seasons.“It’s another weapon. He can play three downs for us. He gets great matchups for us,” Elway said. “And ultimately, you’re looking to run and to have a guy that big and that size (that can) really stretch the field really helps us.”The overriding drama surrounding the Broncos during this draft weekend is Harris’ sticky situation.Elway, who once asked Peyton Manning to take a pay cut and famously played hardball with Champ Bailey and later Von Miller, reiterated Tuesday that he’ll entertain Harris’ request for a big raise after the draft, but pointedly added, “it doesn’t mean we’re going to do it .”Harris, 30, who is due $7.8 million in 2019, wants about twice that annual salary, especially after taking a hometown discount in 2015. He’s the only player in the NFL who has multiple interceptions in each of the last seven seasons and is the last remaining member of the team’s famed “No Fly Zone” secondary.A Broncos blunder briefly inflamed matters Wednesday when their social media team posted a mock “Avengers: Endgame” poster on Twitter featuring several Broncos players but notably excluding Harris .Harris retweeted it Will Harris Jersey , saying, “this is real cold.”Erich Schubert, the team’s director of media relations, quickly sent a Twitter message to Harris, saying, “We have some really talented and hard-working people who create & distribute content, but this was an unintentional oversight not approved by the organization and we’re sorry.”Schubert added the Broncos would immediately implement “stronger approval procedures” and “some replacement graphics.” The team followed up with a quick edit to the post, inserting Harris and telling the ninth-year pro, “Hope this thaws things out. Our bad. We got you.”Harris responded to that update with the clapping hands emoji.