Washington Commanders kicker Zane Gonzalez opened up about his OCD after scoring the biggest kick of his NFL career on Sunday night.
With the Commanders-Buccaneers Wild Card showdown going down to the wire, Gonzalez scored the game-winning field goal to seal the 23-20 victory.
However, the national audience quickly made Gonzalez a viral sensation as NBC’s cameras showed his extensive routine building up to the kick.
Gonzalez repeatedly fixed his sock, tapped his helmet, and brushed his hair with his hand as he walked onto the field. While many thought the actions were part of a game ritual, Gonzalez revealed they were a product of his obsessive-compulsive disorder.
‘If anything, it makes my wife and family more upset than it does with me,’ Gonzalez said, via Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post.
‘I’m used to it,’ he continued. ‘Everybody that’s known or seen me kick has seen me do it millions of times. Being on such a big stage on Sunday night, a game-winner, it draws a little bit more attention, I’ve learned.
Zane Gonzalez opened up about his OCD after going viral against the Buccaneers on Sunday
I kept wondering why Zane Gonzalez looked so anxious taking the field before the game-winning kick. Seconds earlier, he was on the sideline scrambling to change his shoe. It got it done but lord I was sweatttinn #CommandersvsBuccaneers #HTTC #CommandersVsBucs #commanders pic.twitter.com/9Inm0yHCCK
— Sean Labar (@seanlabarpr) January 13, 2025
Zane Gonzalez kicks the doink-winner!#RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/YxXH1i0DXV
— COMMANDERS FOOTBALL (@HogsHaven) January 13, 2025
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‘It’s who I am, and it’s what I go through, and I, above everybody else, realize how crazy it looks doing it. I’m aware. But at the same time, you can’t help it.’
Gonzalez added how he’s learned to live with his OCD, despite the disorder’s ability to alter every aspect of an individual.
‘There’s a few things I try to do to keep it as under the radar as I can, just understanding, get it done and whatever gets me mentally ready to go on the field, do that,’ Gonzalez said. ‘The helmet thing is literally the last thing I do.’
The former Arizona State star was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He spent 18 games in Ohio before bouncing around the league.
Gonzalez spent three years in Arizona and another in Carolina after Cleveland. He had not kicked in an NFL game since 2021.
After singing with the Commanders in November, Gonzalez missed time due to an injury before returning in Week 10 and going 8-for-10 on field goals and 27-for-27 on PATs, including the playoffs.
His 37-yarder on Sunday ended a 19-year streak of playoff futility in DC. However, it did not come without drama as the ball hit the upper right post on its way in.
‘I’ve banked a field goal before, but that was the biggest bank sH๏τ, I’d say, of my career,’ he said. ‘I really wish it would’ve just went in so I didn’t hear the ‘doink’ stuff. That one was just a little outside, but I felt pretty confident about it.’
The thrilling kick sent Washington to the Divisional Round where a meeting with the Detroit Lions awaits them.
