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John Keim, ESPN Staff WriterDec 18, 2024, 05:11 PM ET
- John Keim covers the Washington Commanders for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2013 after a stint with the Washington Post. He started covering the team in 1994 for the Journal Newspapers and later for the Washington Examiner. He has authored/co-authored four books. You can also listen to him on ‘The John Keim Report’, which airs on ESPN Richmond radio, and follow him on Twitter @john_keim
ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders have had multiple issues with their kickers this season, from serious lawsuits to injuries to ineffectiveness. But they never had a day like this: Both kickers on their roster missed practice for the same reason.
Their wives were giving birth.
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Washington kickers Zane Gonzalez and Greg Joseph both skipped practice to be with their wives.
“Never a dull moment around here,” Washington coach Dan Quinn said on Wednesday.
Gonzalez’s wife, Lizzy, delivered the couple’s first child. A week ago on Instagram, Zane Gonzalez mentioned his wife as the “soon to be mother of our baby boy Luca!”
There’s no word yet on Joseph’s wife, Taylor, and her delivery. Earlier this year she posted on Instagram that they were having a boy, though she said they were expecting him to be born in January.
Both couples were married within the past year and it’s the first child for each.
“We have to come up with a certain name if they are both born today,” Quinn said. “There’s got to be some type of twin that takes place along that.”
The good thing with kickers, said punter Tress Way, is that they typically don’t kick in practice until Thursday.
“If they’ve got [footballs] and cleats, they can kick wherever and keep their leg going,” Way said. “Like going to the driving range.”
Just in case something odd were to happen in a game, Way said, he spends one day a year kicking field goals. In fact, his one day occurred last week and, he said, his range is about 40-45 yards.
“But we have a good track record of Hail Marys, so we can just do that,” Way said, referring to quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ 52-yard Hail Mary to beat the Chicago Bears on the final play earlier this season.
It has been an interesting year for Washington and placekickers. The Commanders have signed seven kickers since free agency opened in March; they’ve used four kickers during the regular season — starting with Cade York in the season opener.
They signed Austin Seibert a week later, but he missed one game with a hip injury and returned only to then hurt his groin and be placed on injured reserve. Washington then signed Gonzalez to the active roster on Dec. 2. He made all six extra point attempts in a 42-19 win over Tennessee on Dec. 8, but injured his foot and was replaced by Joseph in the 20-19 win over New Orleans on Sunday. Joseph made two of three field goals.
When Gonzalez is healthy, he’ll be the main kicker, Quinn said.
But, for now, they’ll be tied together because of when their wives went into labor.
“Crazy,” Way said. “Crazy.”
