The San Francisco 49ers acquired Zane Gonzalez from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a conditional swap of late-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Keep reading to learn more about San Francisco's newest kicker.
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K Zane Gonzalez
Behind the Name Zane
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After Gonzalez was drafted to the Cleveland Browns in 2017, cleveland.com got to know the kicker's family for a story about his upbringing. Gonzalez's father, Joseph, revealed the story behind Zane's name.
"We were watching the movie 'Maverick' with Mel Gibson and his dad's name was Zane Cooper," Joseph said, "and I just liked the name Zane."
ASU All-Time Leader
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Gonzalez had a stellar collegiate career playing at Arizona State University from 2013-2016.
The kicker scored a point in every single one of his 51 appearances at ASU and finished his career with 494 points, surpassing the FBS record for points by a kicker. After an impressive senior season, Gonzalez was named a Lou Groza Award finalist, an honor recognizing college football's top kicker.
Check out Gonzalez's all-time ASU stats below:
NFC Special Teams Player of the Week
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Prior to missing the 2022 season due to injury, Gonzalez appeared in 12 games for the Carolina Panthers in 2021 and connected on 20-of-22 field goal attempts (90.9 percent) and 22-of-23 extra point attempts (95.7 percent) for 82 total points.
He was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice on the season, in Weeks 8 and 10.
Pregame Cleat Routine
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With the kicker position having a habitual practice, NFL kickers can be very particular about their gameday shoes and pregame rituals. Gonzalez's routine includes wearing cleats a full-size smaller than his usual size.
"I wear a 10.5 size shoe regularly and on gameday my cleats are 9.5," Gonzalez said in an interview with Charlotte Vibe. "My toes are knuckled in a little bit, but I'm just trying to make sure it's a clean contact... I go in there and scuff them up, get the cleats a little worn down so when I kick I don't catch the grass."
Return to the NFC West
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Gonzalez played in the NFC West division from 2018-2020 with the Arizona Cardinals.
He took over as a starter when Phil Dawson sustained an injury in Week 12 of the 2018 season. The kicker stayed with the Cardinals through the 2021 season, connecting on 54-of-66 field goals and 77-of-80 extra points.
