Social media was ablaze with jokes for Commanders’ kicker Zane Gonzalez until those fans realized that the comments were pointing out his long-standing battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
After being shown on camera going through an unorthodox pre-kick routine during Sunday’s wild-card win over the Buccaneers, Gonzalez became the subject of jokes on social media — and even a few quips were made by the NBC broadcast — after he doinked in a game-winning field goal in the 23-20 triumph.
NBC’s Mike Tirico chuckled that it was no time for a “fashion malfunction” as the camera panned to Gonzalez touching his head and playing with his socks.
It apparently doesn’t bother Gonzalez anymore, but his wife, Lizzy Gonzalez, didn’t like the ensuing internet jokes, telling trolls to “scram” in a TikTok post.
“If anything, it makes my wife and family more upset than it does with me,” Gonzalez told The Washington Post. “I’m used to it. … 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. 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 has had to answer questions about his OCD for much of his career after being selected in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
He set multiple NCAA records while at Arizona State and received unanimous All-American Honors, and is just one of 18 kickers to have been drafted since 2017.
Gonzalez spent two years in Cleveland before being shipped off to the Cardinals and eventually spending a season with the Panthers.
While a member of the Panthers in 2021, he was asked about his battle with OCD.
“It’s just little thoughts, little funny habits that I do,” he told the Charlotte Observer in 2021. “Specifically, sometimes I rinse my hands before kicks … It instantly makes you just feel relieved. I don’t know why, if it’s just a placebo effect. It’s not something I love having. But it just is what it is, and I’ve learned to deal with it.”
Gonzalez was out of the league for the last three years before latching onto the Commanders and kicking them to Detroit in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, where they have a date with the Lions on Saturday.
