[Chris Francis]

WHEN WASHINGTON COMMANDERS PLACEKICKER ZANE GONZALEZ KICKED A 37-YARD FIELD GOAL LAST SUNDAY TO GIVE HIS TEAM ITS FIRST PLAYOFF WIN SINCE THE 2005 SEASON – IT WASN’T JUST THE “DOINK” OFF THE UPRIGHTS NBC CAMERAS CAPTURED.

AS GONZALEZ READIED TO SEND HIS TEAM INTO THE DIVISIONAL ROUND, A NATIONAL AUDIENCE WAS BROUGHT INTO HIS PREPARATION – MANY NOT FULLY UNDERSTANDING WHAT THEY WERE WATCHING.

FROM ADJUSTING HIS SOCKS TO TOUCHING HIS HAIR REPEATEDLY – THE SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL COMMENTATORS AND VIEWERS AT HOME SAW WHAT THE 29-YEAR-OLD TEXAS NATIVE HAS BEEN DEALING WITH MOST OF HIS LIFE. A CONDITION KNOWN AS OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER – COMMONLY REFERRED BY ITS ACRONYM O-C-D.

THOUGH GONZALEZ HAS BEEN SHOWN ON CAMERA BEFORE WHEN GOING THROUGH HIS PRE-KICK ROUTINE – WITH HIM PLAYING IN AN NFL POSTSEASON GAME – MORE EYES WERE ON HIM THAN EVER BEFORE – GIVING A BIG PLATFORM FOR THE CONDITION THAT AFFECTS MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

THE MAYO CLINIC DESCRIBES O-C-D AS A DISORDER THAT “FEATURES A PATTERN OF UNWANTED THOUGHTS AND FEARS KNOWN AS OBSESSIONS. THESE OBSESSIONS LEAD YOU TO DO REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS, ALSO CALLED COMPULSIONS. THESE OBSESSIONS AND COMPULSIONS GET IN THE WAY OF DAILY ACTIVITIES AND CAUSE A LOT OF DISTRESS.”

ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL O-C-D FOUNDATION –

ABOUT 1 IN 40 U.S. ADULTS HAS O-C-D OR WILL DEVELOP IT AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIVES.

THAT’S APPROXIMATELY 8 POINT 2 MILLION PEOPLE.

AND ON AVERAGE 1 IN 100 CHILDREN HAVE OCD.

GONZALEZ HAS BEEN DEALING WITH OCD SINCE HE WAS A CHILD.  HE BEGAN TO OPEN UP ABOUT MANAGING THE CONDITION WHEN HE WAS A FRESHMAN AT ARIZONA STATE.

AFTER BREAKING AN NC-DOUBLE-A RECORD FOR FIELD GOALS IN A CAREER —  HE WAS NICKNAMED ‘LEGATRON’ BY ASU FANS AFTER ALL — THE SUN DEVILS KICKER BECAME AN NFL PLAYER WHEN HE WAS SELECTED BY THE CLEVELAND BROWNS IN THE 2017 DRAFT.  HE HAD TO WAIT FOR THAT MOMENT THOUGH — IT WAS THE SEVENTH ROUND AND GONZALEZ WAS THE 224^TH PICK.

ESPN REPORTED THAT YEAR, QUOTE “IT’S POSSIBLE GONZALEZ SLIPPED DOWN THE DRAFT BOARD DUE TO HIS HONESTY ABOUT HIS OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER.”

A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE DRAFT GONZALEZ TOLD THE NETWORK – AS A FOOTBALL PLAYER WITH O-C-D “IT MAKES YOU A PERFECTIONIST AND MORE DETAIL-ORIENTED. OFF THE FIELD, IT’S A PAIN IN THE BUTT.”

NO MATTER THE ROUND HE WAS DRAFTED, GONZALEZ WAS IN THE NFL AND HE PRESSED ON AS HIS CAREER TOOK HIM TO ARIZONA, DETROIT, CHARLOTTE, SAN FRANCISCO AND — JUST THIS PAST NOVEMBER — TO WASHINGTON – MERE WEEKS BEFORE HIS GAME-WINNING KICK.

IN 2021 – HE SPOKE TO THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER ABOUT COPING WITH OCD.

SAYING “It affected me a lot more as a young kid. … It’s just little thoughts, little funny habits that I do…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.”

THE NFL KICKER JOINS SEVERAL OTHER PRO ATHLETES SPEAKING PUBLICLY ABOUT THEIR O-C-D EXPERIENCES.

AS A YOUNG ADULT — NEW ZEALAND OLYMPIAN TRACK CYCLIST SAM DAKIN FIRST BEGAN NOTICING O-C-D SYMPTOMS IN 2018 – JUST A FEW YEARS BEFORE COMPETING IN HIS FIRST OLYMPIC GAMES IN TOKYO.

SHORTLY AFTER RETURNING HOME FROM THE GAMES – HE SPOKE TO THE MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION OF NEW ZEALAND ABOUT HIS O-C-D STRUGGLES.

“I was 22 years old…and then woke up one day and just… boom. There’s just one thought on repeat. It started for an hour a day and then eventually just got worse and worse. And then it was 16 hours a day and I could only escape it when I slept, which was just horrific.”

JUST LAST WEEK – DAKIN SAT DOWN WITH THE GOOD DAY MATRIX PODCAST ABOUT HOW AN ONLINE COMMUNITY HELPED HIM IN DEALING WITH THE CONDITION.

[SAM DAKIN  | NEW ZEALAND OLYMPIAN TRACK CYCLIST]

“I started just scrolling the internet and Googling this thing that was going on in my head and eventually one day I was on Reddit and I found this like feed of pure OCD and these people just described exactly what I was feeling. It was just like this just relief I was like I’m not alone yeah other people have gone through this it’s actually relatively normal but not many people have talked about it so for me once I found that which was the day before I left for my first world championships in Berlin.”

[CHRIS]

LIKE GONZALEZ, DAKIN SAYS HE’S NOT SHY ABOUT SPEAKING ABOUT OCD – AND HOPES HIS WORDS CAN HELP SOMEONE ELSE GOING THROUGH WHAT HE DID.

[SAM]

“I was just like, man, this can help so many people and I feel comfortable to talk about it. And if I can talk about it more then it’ll help others and it’s just kind of grown from there really. I have tried to do it in a way that’s really me and really organic and not shoving it down people’s faces.”

[CHRIS]

MILLIE FARROW, A UK PRO SOCCER PLAYER CURRENTLY PLAYING WITH SYDNEY FC, ALSO KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BATTLE OCD WHILE LIVING OUT YOUR CHILDHOOD DREAMS.

SHE TOLD THE NEW YORK TIMES IN 2023 QUOTE  “IT IS A VERY STRANGE PLACE TO BE — BEING CONTROLLED BY A THOUGHT IN YOUR HEAD.”

FARROW TOLD THE TIME SHE WOULD SEE SOMEONE SHE DESCRIBED AS “CONTAMINATED” TOUCHING A CERTAIN SURFACE AND WOULD QUOTE “BE ASSESSING IT, ANALYZING IT.”

FARROW SAID WITH A DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY STARTING AT AGE 14 – SHE HAS BEEN ABLE TO GET HANDLE OF HER OCD –

SAYING QUOTE “ “IT IS SOMETHING I WILL HAVE FOR THE LENGTH OF MY LIFE, BUT IT CAN BE DEALT WITH AND CAN BE UNDER CONTROL. THAT’S THE PLACE I’M IN NOW…”

AND NOW AS A PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAY SHE SAYS “I’M SO GLAD I DIDN’T GIVE UP.”

AND ANOTHER SOCCER STAR – ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS TO PLAY THE GAME  – DAVID BECKHAM – OPENED UP IN A 2023 NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY SERIES – ABOUT HOW O-C-D AFFECTS HIS LIFE IN RETIREMENT.

CHOOSING HUMOR TO DISCUSS HIS SYMPTOMS – HE WENT INTO DETAIL WHILE PROMOTING THE SERIES ON JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE.

[DAVID BECKHAM]

“Yeah I’m a little bit OCD.”

“A little bit, I mean the carpet could have been vacuumed in a little straight but in in all honesty you know that that is what I’m like. Victoria always jokes because when we our friends around for dinner or drinks you know I start turning like lights off and cleaning the candles.”

“It’s not just the wicks, it’s outside the candles too.”

[CHRIS]

FOR THE MILLIONS DEALING WITH OCD, IT MAY NOT BE HUMOR THAT GETS THEM THROUGH BUT FINDING SOMEONE TO RELY ON.

DAKIN’S ADVICE IS TO “FIND SOMEONE THAT YOU TRUST AND YOU FEEL YOU CAN LEAN ON, AND IN TURN THEY’LL UNDERSTAND AND THEY’LL WANT TO BE THERE TO HELP YOU.”

AND FOR OTHERS IT WAS THAT GAME-WINNING KICK THAT MADE THEM FEEL A SENSE OF CONNECTION – AS PGA TOUR AND SIRIUSXM HOST JEFF EISENBAND WROTE ON X “AS SOMEONE WHO HAS DEALT WITH OCD MOST OF MY LIFE, I HAVE SUCH IMMENSE RESPECT FOR ZANE GONZALEZ BEING ABLE TO PERFORM IN THE CLUTCH LIKE THIS. HATE SEEING PEOPLE TRY TO DRAG HIM FOR IT.”

AND SPEAKING TO THOSE WHO POKED FUN AT ZANE GONZALEZ’S PRE-KICK ROUTINE WITHOUT KNOWING THE FULL STORY – HIS WIFE LIZZY POSTED A TIKTOK VIDEO USING A VIRAL MEME TO SEND THEM ALL A MESSAGE.

AS FOR ZANE GONZALEZ — 2024 WAS A YEAR OF CELEBRATION FOR THE COMMANDERS KICKER. HE GOT MARRIED LAST APRIL AND THE COUPLE THEN WELCOMED THEIR FIRST CHILD IN DECEMBER. NOW, GONZALEZ IS LOOKING FOR THE GOOD TIMES TO CONTINUE IN 2025. NEXT UP — WASHINGTON MEETS DETROIT IN THE DIVISIONAL ROUND – AND AFTER THE HEADLINES HIS WILD CARD KICK MADE – HE’S PROBABLY GOT A FEW NEW FANS ROOTING FOR HIM THIS WEEKEND.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M CHRIS FRANCIS.

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