Some are insensitively calling it “bizarre” behavior.
What it actually is? OCD.
The Washington Commanders on Sunday night got a game-winning Zane Gonzalez kick – in “doink” style – to register a 23-20 victory over Tampa Bay to advance in the NFL playoffs … their first such move forward in almost 20 years.
There is much to celebrate. And something to explain as well.
After the game, the kicker’s newlywed wife, Lizzy Gonzalez, used social media to do the celebrating.
Lizzy wrote, “Holy hell, proud of my guy. Next round, here we go!”
Gonzalez and his wife have much to celebrate in their personal life, too, as the couple also welcomed their first baby together last month, a boy named Luca Joseph.
And on a professional level? Gonzalez first joined the Commanders practice squad in November and was just elevated to the 53-man roster in December.
He finished the regular season making 5-of-7 field goals and all 19 of extra-point attempts. And he’ll be counted on now as Washington is set to see the Detroit Lions, the No. 1 team in the NFC, next Saturday night.
At that time, there will surely be more scrutiny on the sideline actions of Gonzalez, who in this game was fidgeting with his short hair numerous times before the big kick.
Many observers speculated that Gonzalez was nervous. Others poked fun.
The simple truth? Gonzalez deals with the mental health disorder called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, otherwise known as OCD … which can cause repetitive behaviors that don’t always make sense to the uninitiated.
“It affected me a lot more as a young kid. … It’s just little thoughts, little funny habits that I do,” he told the Charlotte Observer in 2021.
“I’ve done a lot of research on it,” Gonzalez said of his OCD. “Specifically, sometimes I rinse my hands before kicks. … And I was kind of curious about that. But that’s one of the most common things that people with OCD do. 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.”
In this game, he went three for three on a day that included a 52-yard field goal and the game-winning kick … critical stuff in a three-point victory.
And interestingly, Gonzalez has suggested that maybe his OCD helps him at his very specific task.
“It makes you a perfectionist and more detail-oriented,” Gonzalez said. “(But) off the field, it’s a pain in the butt.”
