Gonzales attended Bishop Montgomery High School in Redondo Beach, California, where he played both football and track and field.
He accepted a full scholarship in Track and Field from University of Southern California with the intention of becoming an Olympic athlete.
[2] He competed and won the gold medal in decathlon at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indiana.
Gonzales tried four times to make the USA Olympic Team in Decathlon (1984 1988, 1992,1996) but was plagued by injury in each attempt.
Gonzales was recruited by Olympian Liston Bochette to participate in the 1998 Winter Olympics representing Puerto Rico in the four-man bobsled team.