WASHINGTON, D.C. — He was number 11 on a team of 11 for the Ohio State University before heading to the NFL.

But now Anthony Gonzalez is Congressman Gonzalez (R-16), and part of a team of 100 other freshmen representatives and 435 total U.S. House members.

“Things are going well,” Gonzalez told Spectrum Washington reporter Taylor Popielarz last week before heading home for the two-week Easter recess.

“I mean, it’s kind of what I expected, I would say, in terms of how difficult it is,” Gonzalez said, “but also how the opportunity to actually move the ball forward on some important items is actually there.”

A football reference is about the closest he can get to his previous profession.

Now Gonzalez is juggling bureaucratic business, sitting on two committees, meeting with constituents in DC and at home, and casting votes.

“You know, honestly, I don’t think there were a ton of surprises,” he said. “I had a pretty low opinion of Congress before I got here and it’s measured up pretty well.”

That low opinion was on display at a recent press conference where Gonzalez explained why he will be voting ‘present’ — instead of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ — on all future non-binding resolutions, which are essentially political statements introduced on the House floor.

Gonzalez said he grew frustrated after Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, made comments about Israel that he and many others viewed as anti-semitic, and a resolution to condemn what she said ended up growing into a broader resolution condemning multiple forms of hate.

Gonzalez said he thought the point of the original resolution fell apart as it became more vague and politicized. 

“And so in my head I’m thinking, wait a minute, last I checked we still have a health care system that doesn’t work for a lot of families,” Gonzalez said. “We still have a debt and deficit situation that’s out of control. We still have a crisis at our border. And instead of rushing to the floor and making political statements, why don’t we actually work on those things? How is that for an idea? That’s a novel concept.”

Gonzalez sits on two committees: financial services and science, space and technology.

He said both interest him, but he also said he quickly learned they’re not as productive as they should be — especially when you’re in the minority party.

“We show up to these hearings [and] there’s already legislation that’s been pre-baked, that’s already being considered, that nobody’s had input — I shouldn’t say nobody — but, in often times, the other side hasn’t had any input on it and it ends up being a five minute soapbox type deal,” Gonzalez said.

“The way that I would like to solve problems,” he said, “the way I think people solve problems, is you get into a room and you sit down, agree on a set of goals and principles, and you hash it out. And from there, legislation can be produced.” 

Despite these frustrations, Gonzalez said the first four months have gone well so far.

He records weekly rundown videos to keep his constituents up to date with his work in Washington and has a ‘mailbag’ segment where he reads letters he receives.

Gonzalez said his favorite part of the job is working with the people of the 16th district who visit him in DC or when he’s home making stops at local high schools.

“That’s the best work,” he said. “That’s the most fun work, by far, because you have a real opportunity to, at least in these individual interactions, to help restore faith in the federal government, which a lot of people don’t have.”

Gonzalez is one of two former NFL players in this year’s class of freshmen lawmakers.

The other is Texas Democrat Colin Allred, who played for the Titans.