As Washington Commanders kicker Zane Gonzalez walked onto the field at Raymond James Stadium to attempt a game-winning kick, his obsessive-compulsive disorder was on display for a national television audience.
Gonzalez, 29, playing on his sixth NFL team, alternated between fixing his hair and putting his helmet on his head. Minutes before kicking a 37-yard field goal to send the Commanders to the divisional round against the Detroit Lions, he repeatedly took off his cleats, adjusted his socks and put his cleats back on.
Many people watching the game at home chalked it up to superstition or routine – something we see in many athletes. But it was much more than that of the commanders’ kick.
“If anything, it upsets my wife and family more than me,” Gonzalez said of the attention via Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. “I’m used to it. … Anyone who has known me or seen me kick has seen me do it a million times. Being on such a big stage on Sunday night, winning a game, it draws a little more attention, I learned. This is who I am, and this is what I’m experiencing, and I, of all people, realize how crazy it sounds to do this. I’m aware. But at the same time, there’s nothing we can do about it. »
Gonzalez, who learned of his OCD as a child, has been public about his condition since his freshman year at Arizona State University. He said ESPN in its first NFL season in 2017“It makes you a perfectionist and more detail-oriented. Off the field, it’s a pain.”
Although it affects his life on and off the football field – like having to touch the bottom of the cups he uses, for example – Gonzalez has adjusted his daily life to deal with his OCD and incorporate it into his preparation for matches and kicks. .
“There are certain things I try to do to keep it as low-key as possible, just figure it out, do it and whatever prepares me mentally to go on the field, do it,” Gonzalez said . “The helmet thing is literally the last thing I do.”
Prior to this season, Gonzalez had not played in the NFL since being with the Carolina Panthers in 2021. He aggravated a quad injury, which kept him out of the 2022 NFL season . He was then traded to the San Francisco 49ers in March 2023 and an injury kept him out of action again.
The Commanders signed Gonzalez to their practice squad on November 8 and he later took over starting duties after Austin Seibert was placed on injured reserve with a hip injury. He is one of seven kickers signed by the team since March and one of four to attempt a field goal for them this season.
Gonzalez finished 5 of 7 on field goals and 19 of 19 on extra points in the regular season with the Commanders and he made three field goals in the win over the Buccaneers.
In a season where he worked for eight teams before signing with the Commanders, Gonzalez now enjoys hero status in Washington with the team two wins away from playing for a Super Bowl.
“It’s a journeyman lifestyle,” Gonzalez said. “It’s hard, but at the end of the day, I’m doing what I love to do.”
