Falcons’ third kicker of season trying to be what the first two weren’t
FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons had an important question for kicker Zane Gonzalez before they even brought him out for his tryout Tuesday.
“They made sure before I came on the flight that I had my passport ready to go and all that kind of stuff like that,” Gonzalez said Wednesday, his first full day as a Falcon. “And I did. So I had that ready and that was the first thing they grabbed from me once I signed.”
In a season that has been rife with catastrophe, that’s at least one crisis averted. Gonzalez is in need of a passport as the Falcons will travel to Berlin play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The veteran is the team’s third kicker this season, following Younghoe Koo and Parker Romo, who was waived Tuesday.
In yet another indication of how this season has gone sideways, this will be the first season since 2007 that the Falcons will have at least three players attempt field goals, pending Gonzalez’s first try.
“Being dropped in the season is always a little bit more stressful than being here at the beginning of the season,” Gonzalez said. “But, that kind of comes with the territory and the job. You just never know when your number is going to get called.”
Koo saw his 89-game Falcons career come to an end after he missed a 44-yard try in the final seconds of the season-opening 23-20 loss to Tampa Bay, a failed attempt that followed an injury-marred and accuracy-deficient 2024 season.
Romo’s tenure lasted seven games. He was 11-for-14 on field-goal tries (78.6%) and then missed a crucial point-after try in the final minutes of the Falcons’ 24-23 loss to New England on Sunday.
That’s two games that the Falcons (3-5) could well have won had the kicking game been more sound, costly errors that a team on the path toward an eighth consecutive season without a playoff berth can’t afford.
“We missed the kick the other day, and we can’t miss those kicks, and we’ve just got to find a way to be more consistent, get some operational peace,” coach Raheem Morris said.
Gonzalez has played six NFL seasons with Cleveland, Arizona, Carolina and Washington. For his career, he has made 80% of his field-goal tries (96-of-120) and 95% of his extra-point tries (146-of-153), including 19-for-19 last season with Washington.
Gonzalez tried out with the Falcons earlier this season after Koo’s miss in the opener. He was called in on Monday and had his tryout Tuesday morning. He was signed shortly after.
“It’s just kind of the same thing at each and every place you go,” Gonzalez said. “You’re kind of like a pitcher in baseball. You just kind of get out there and do your thing and trust that your stuff’s working.”
A soccer fan, Gonzalez is eager to play in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
“So for me, it’s all neat just to be a part of that,” Gonzalez said. “I got to play in London in 2017, but it was a rugby field. It wasn’t a soccer field. So, it’ll be an interesting experience, and I’m excited for it.”
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
