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- Where did Zane Gonzalez go to college?
- Zane Gonzalez NFL teams
- Zane Gonzalez OCD, explained
- Zane Gonzalez stats
The Atlanta Falcons have once again hit the reset button on their kicking operation, signing veteran Zane Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who joins the team as their third kicker of the 2025 season, arrives following the release of John Parker Romo, whose late missed extra point directly resulted in a one-point loss.
This change follows a season-opening trend of costly kicking errors that began with the release of the long-tenured Younghoe Koo, demonstrating that head coach Raheem Morris is determined to find a "consistent presence" to avoid losing any more games on special teams miscues.
Gonzalez, a well-traveled veteran, brings a proven track record of having handled pressure in multiple systems, including clutch moments during his time with the Washington Commanders. The Falcons are now banking on Gonzalez’s experience and consistent technique—which includes a career long of 57 yards — to finally put an end to the team's ongoing kicker carousel.
Here's what to know about the kicker and his NFL career.
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Where did Zane Gonzalez go to college?
From 2013-2016, Gonzalez made 96 out of his 116 kick attempts (82.8%) at Arizona State. As a senior in 2016, he made a 59-yard field goal against Colorado, which was a Sun Devils' school record and the longest in the FBS that season. He was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation's best placekicker, his senior season.
During his four years in Tempe, Gonzalez became the all-time FBS career record holder for most field goals (96) and finished with 494 career points, another FBS record. According to ASU, he finished with six FBS records, more than any other kicker in history.
Entering the 2017 NFL Draft, Gonzalez was seen as the best kicker available, but he was not selected as the first kicker in the draft. That honor went to Jake Elliott, who the Bengals selected at No. 153 overall. Gonzalez had to wait all the way until the seventh round, eventually getting selected by the Browns at No. 224 overall. The kicker was honest about his struggles with his OCD throughout his ASU career, which could have contributed to his draft slip.
"Everybody wants to be the top guy," Gonzalez told ESPN during a 2017 interview. "A little chip on your shoulder to help you compete, to make you better."
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Zane Gonzalez NFL teams
Gonzalez has played for the Browns, Cardinals, Panthers, Commanders and Falcons.
In Cleveland from 2017-18, Gonzalez made 17-of-25 field goal attempts but struggled early in 2018. He had a game-winning 43-yard attempt blocked in overtime Week 1 against the Steelers, missed two field goals and two extra points during a 21-18 loss to the Saints, and missed a 52-yarder that would have won the game for Cleveland. Unsurprisingly, he was waived by the Browns the following day.
The Cardinals picked him up, and Gonzalez had his best years as a kicker there. From 2018-20, he had an 81.8 percent field-goal percentage. After being placed on injured reserve, he was released in March of 2021. His career since then has been filled with injuries.
After spending time on the Lions' practice squad, he was signed by Carolina in Sept. 2021. He had some high notes there, including in Week 8 when he went four-for-four and scored 13 points during Carolina's 19-13 win over the Falcons. However, during warm-ups against the Bills in Week 15, he suffered a quad injury, ending his season early.
He signed a one-year extension with the Panthers in March 2022, but he injured his quad again during Carolina's last preseason game. He was signed by the 49ers in March of 2023, but he was placed on injured reserve in late August.
After spending nearly a year out of the league, Gonzalez signed with the Commanders and took over for an injured Austin Seibert in November. During his six regular-season appearances, Gonzalez was highly reliable on extra points, going 19-for-19, and converting five of his seven field goal attempts (71.4%). His primary value was providing immediate competence in high-leverage situations, helping Washington secure a playoff spot.
Gonzalez's most memorable contributions came in the postseason. He appeared in all three of Washington's playoff contests, where he was remarkably consistent, ultimately converting 12 of 15 field goal attempts and maintaining a perfect record on his extra points throughout his entire stint. Most notably, he provided the clutch factor in the Wild Card Round, nailing a 37-yard game-winning field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This kick sealed the franchise's first playoff win since the 2005 season, instantly making Gonzalez a temporary hero for a team desperate for postseason success.
Interestingly enough, Gonzalez didn't exactly dream of being an NFL kicker. Growing up in Texas near Houston, soccer was his first love. He played soccer in high school, but he saw kicking footballs as an opportunity to get a college scholarship.
“I had no money to go to college, so football paid for school,” Gonzalez told the Charlotte Observer back in 2021. “So that was a pretty easy decision.”
Washington went in another direction for 2025, but Gonzalez landed with the Falcons ahead of Week 10, replacing Parker Romo.
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Zane Gonzalez OCD, explained
Gonzalez hasn't shied away from his disorder. Although he hasn't gone too in-depth in interviews, he has spoken about it previously.
Said Gonzalez: “It affected me a lot more as a young kid.... It’s just little thoughts, little funny habits that I do.”
Gonzalez said he didn’t want to get too much in depth about his OCD but did offer one current example and a bit more explanation in our interview.
“I’ve done a lot of research on it,” Gonzalez said of 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.”
"It's a lot of little things I do," Gonzalez said of having OCD via AZ Central in 2016. "My family knows little (motor) tics, and they'll catch me doing it. For the most part, I've learned to hide them or make them casual. Nobody really knows. It makes you more of a perfectionist, which you need to be as a kicker. I've just accepted it and learned to make it a better trait."
"He has to have everything in perfect order," his father, Joseph Gonzalez, told the newspaper. "The one thing to say about Zane is he's always harder on himself than I could ever have been on him. He's always trying to master what he's undertaking. He was a hell of a soccer player, also. He wouldn't settle for anything other than getting to a big school and making his mark."
Gonzalez's pre-kick preparation before hitting the game-winning field goal in Tampa in the 2025 wild card round quickly went viral. Before making the field goal, SNF's cameras caught Gonzalez adjusting his hair and his shoe and sock several times before trotting out for the game-winner:
For Zane Gonzalez, it doesn't matter how you get ready...just as long as you're ready. 😂 pic.twitter.com/oTkxuFQvSj
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 13, 2025
“As soon as I hit it, I thought it was going in,” Gonzalez said of the game-winner via Commanders Wire. “I’m not going to lie; I felt really good about it. And then it kept on fading on me.”
After an eventful pre-kick routine, Gonzalez's kick doinked off the right upright and went through, sealing Washington's first playoff win in two decades.
“Me being a little bit of a perfectionist — my wife will say — I was a little upset it doinked in, Gonzalez continued. I wanted it to go smooth, right down the middle. But a make is a make, and I will take it and get out of here with a win.”
Gonzalez's kick delivered Washington's first playoff win since 2005. More notably, it offered insight — and inspiration — for those living with OCD.
"I just wish more people would understand, like, it's hard to describe the mindset that's going on in the OCD," Gonzalez said, via USA Today. "So it's like whenever you're having one of those situations come up, you truly — whatever it may be — you think the worst possible situation's going to come of it.
"It could be the most unrealistic, crazy, unimaginable thing and people will be like 'You're crazy for thinking that stuff.' Which, I'm aware I'm crazy to think that stuff. But that tick just constantly is kneading at you.... It's just one of those things you just kind of get used to and you grow accustomed to."
Zane Gonzalez stats
| GP | FGM | FGA | FG % | XPM | XPA | XP % | Long FG | Total Points | |
| Career | 69 | 96 | 120 | 80.0% | 146 | 153 | 95.4% | 57 | 434 |
Atlanta will be Gonzalez's fourth team, looking to provide stability for the Falcons special team unit.
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