Following his sports career, which was cut short by injuries, he enrolled in graduate studies at Stanford University and earned a master's degree.

As a senior, he was a first-team All-state honoree as well as the Associated Press and The Plain Dealer Co-defensive Player of the Year, catching 71 passes for 1,873 yards and scoring 21 touchdowns.

[citation needed] He attended Ohio State University and was an Academic All-American majoring in philosophy,[6] in which he earned a bachelor's degree.

Gonzalez was a three-year letterman at Ohio State University, playing with fellow future NFL wide receivers Santonio Holmes, Ted Ginn Jr., and Roy Hall, as well as Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith.

[6] He finished his college career playing in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, where the Buckeyes lost to the Florida Gators 41–14.

In 2009, Gonzalez earned the starting wide receiver position along with Reggie Wayne after Marvin Harrison was released from the team in the off-season.

In 2018, Gonzalez filed to run as a Republican for the United States House of Representatives in Ohio's 16th congressional district.

[20] Ohio's slow population growth in the 2020 United States census made the district obsolete as of 2023, leaving the campaigns' statuses unclear.

[23] Just 12 days before the end of Trump's term, the House passed a second impeachment resolution with one article claiming "incitement of insurrection", before and during the U.S. Capitol attack.

Ohio Republican Party chair Bob Paduchik said the second impeachment resolution addressed "an unconstitutional, politically motivated process that served no purpose."

[28] On May 19, 2021, Gonzalez was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S.

[31] On November 5, 2021, he was among the 13 House Republicans to break with their party and vote with a majority of Democrats in favor of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

[36] In 2022, Gonzalez was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.