Zane Gonzalez Stuns Bucs Again with Game-Winner-and a Story Bigger Than Football
Different year, different uniform, same result. Zane Gonzalez once again played heartbreaker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, drilling a 43-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Atlanta Falcons to a comeback win on Thursday night. It was a wild finish to a game that saw the Bucs collapse in the fourth quarter, and for Gonzalez, it was a moment that echoed a familiar chapter in his career-right down to the pre-kick routine that’s as much a part of his story as his leg.
Let’s set the stage. Tampa Bay entered the final quarter in control, up 28-14 and looking to close things out.
But Atlanta had other plans. Touchdowns from Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts pulled the Falcons within two, though failed two-point conversions kept the pressure on.
Still, the defense held firm, pitching a shutout in the fourth. That gave Gonzalez a shot to win it, and he didn’t miss.
The 30-year-old kicker calmly stepped up and drilled the game-winner with no time left. But if you caught him on camera just before the kick, you might’ve noticed something unusual: Gonzalez fiddling with his hair, a move that’s become a signature of sorts-not just because of habit, but because of something deeper.
Gonzalez has lived with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) since childhood. It’s a condition marked by intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors-things that can be both mentally exhausting and physically noticeable, especially under pressure.
Before big kicks, Gonzalez often touches his hair or rinses his hands. Not because he’s nervous, but because it helps him feel centered.
It’s part of how he manages the condition, and he’s been open about it.
“It affected me a lot more as a young kid,” Gonzalez said in a past interview. “It’s just little thoughts, little funny habits that I do.”
Those habits were on full display Thursday night, just as they were last season when Gonzalez hit another late field goal to knock the Bucs out of the playoffs-then with the Washington Commanders. That kick sent Tampa Bay packing and the Commanders to the Divisional Round. And yes, the hair-touching moment went viral back then, too.
Gonzalez hasn’t shied away from talking about OCD. In fact, he’s leaned into it, using his platform to shed light on what it’s like to live-and kick-with the condition. He’s done the research, learned the patterns, and figured out how to manage it in a high-pressure profession where precision is everything.
“Sometimes I rinse my hands before kicks,” he explained. “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.”
There were whispers that his openness about OCD might’ve hurt his draft stock back in 2017, when he went in the seventh round. But Gonzalez doesn’t see it as a setback. In fact, he believes it’s shaped who he is as a player.
“It makes you a perfectionist and more detail-oriented,” he said. “Off the field, it’s a pain in the butt.”
On the field, though? That attention to detail can be the difference between a win and a loss.
And for the Falcons, it meant walking off with a victory in a game that won’t change their playoff fate-but might just say a lot about their fight. For Gonzalez, it was another clutch moment in a career defined by resilience, routine, and a relentless drive to deliver-hair-touching and all.