Credit: NBC
By Sam Neumann on

While watching the Washington Commanders’ dramatic win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out Wild Card weekend, you might have initially chuckled something in the broadcast’s fleeting moments.

The NBC cameras repeatedly zoomed in on Commanders’ kicker Zane Gonzalez as he fussed with his hair — about two dozen times — before lining up for the biggest kick of his life. The veteran placekicker eventually nailed a 37-yard, game-winning field goal, which doinked off the upright and sent Washington to the Divisional Round.

Unbelievable moment, right?

But amid the celebration, his shining moment quickly overshadowed the narrative surrounding his pre-kick jitters. Still, there were a few moments that NBC honed in on Gonzalez, as Mike Tirico even quipped that it wasn’t the time for a “fashion malfunction,” framing the aforementioned meticulous adjustments as mere signs of nerves.

And yes, they are nerves, but they also reflect something deeper than a kicker having an unusual routine.

“Whatever he lined up in that head and that foot, [Commanders’ punter] Tress Way put it down — and Gonzalez doinked them to Detroit.”

And to Tirico’s credit, at first glance, it seemed like a quirky, meme-worthy moment, poking fun at Gonzalez’s obsessive adjustments.

But what that fails to highlight is why Gonzalez does what he does.

The 29-year-old kicker has openly discussed living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since his days as a freshman at Arizona State. Those moments of fidgeting and adjusting aren’t a matter of superstition or vanity but are instead a reflection of how Gonzalez manages the condition that has shaped much of his adult life.

“It’s just little thoughts, little funny habits that I do,” he told the Charlotte Observer’s Scott Fowler about his ticks when he was with the Carolina Panthers (2021-22).

So, yes, Gonzalez knows it’s “funny.”

He’s very aware that his pre-kick ritual — which involves meticulous and repetitive actions and adjustments — can look odd or excessive.

But for him, it’s not about appearances.

What might have been dismissed as quirky or excessive in the moment on Sunday Night Football is, in fact, part of Gonzalez’s process — his way of channeling focus in high-pressure moments. And for Gonzalez, the kick wasn’t just about football. It was about overcoming a condition that makes every routine action a challenge.

A challenge his wife, Lizzy, addressed on her TikTok, where she defended her husband against those “making fun” of his “pre-kick OCD tick.”

Now, the Commanders move on, and so does Gonzalez — with his hair perfectly in place, a game-winning kick to his name and a little less weight on his shoulders.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann