He readily admits it.
When the Dallas Cowboys line up against the 49ers at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tx., C.J. Goodwin will be holding a grudge against the team from San Francisco.
“Oh, I definitely will have a chip on my shoulder,” said the special teams specialist. “They signed me, and then they let me go. They had one of the best special teams players in the league, so I gotta make them pay for that for sure.”
After playing defense and special teams for Atlanta in Super Bowl LI, the Falcons released Goodwin, and the Wheeling native not only signed with the 49ers but also with the New York Giants and the Cincinnati Bengals. Those teams, too, released the Linsly graduate.
Believe it or not, those rejections actually were blessings.
“If one of those teams would have recognized what I’m capable of on a football field, I wouldn’t be with the Cowboys, my favorite team since I was good,” Goodwin explained. “Dallas was my father’s favorite so, I guess I got it from him. Sure, I would be playing for any NFL team to make a living, but wearing that helmet with that star means a lot to me.”
Home Field Advantage
The Pittsburgh Steelers were the first NFL team to ink Goodwin as an undrafted free agent in 2014, but that tenure was short-lived thanks to injury.
But that is when Goodwin began training twice as hard, and once healthy, he signed with Atlanta as a practice squad member in November 2015, and in 2016 he played in 14 games. He has played against San Francisco a few times during his eight-year career, but tomorrow’s 4:30 p.m. (EST) matchup will be the first in the postseason.
“The 49ers are a good team. They wouldn’t be 10-7 if they weren’t,” Goodwin said. “They started the season pretty slow, but they’ve turned it around during the second half of their schedule. It’s not going to be easy for us; that’s for sure.
“Now, we got healthy after a disappointing season last year, but even though we lost our quarterback (Dak Prescott) early in the year, no one quit,” he said. “This year we’ve been healthy, and we’ve got a lot of stars on this team. That’s why, when I hear people have doubt in us, it doesn’t make much sense to me.”
The oddsmakers have the Cowboys as three-point favorites after Dallas finished first in the NFC East Division with a 12-5 record. The Cowboys outscored their opponents by 172 points and were 5-3 at home.
San Francisco finished the regular season with two victories and outscored their opponents by 62 points. The 49ers were 6-3 on the road during the regular season.
“One thing I can tell you about this Dallas team is that we take it one game at a time, and we take no one for granted. When you are in the playoffs, records don’t matter anymore,” Goodwin insisted. “You play the regular season to get where we are now, but the playoffs are a separate season completely.”
The Gunner
While Goodwin did play on Atlanta’s defensive unit, the Cowboys utilize him on special teams only.
For example, he’s “The Gunner” when the Cowboys opt to punt.
“My job is to be really fast, to find the ball, and to hit someone hard,” Goodwin said with a chuckle. “I’m 31 years old right now, and I’ll turn 32 next month, so as long as I retain my speed, I’ll have a job here no matter how old I am.
“They like me here because I work very hard, and I go about things the right way,” he explained. “We practice three days each week, and sometimes those are very long days. It depends on what we do during practice, but some days we’re at work for more than 12 hours. Trust me; I’m not complaining. I do what I do so I can come home to Wheeling and help my community be a better place.”
That is why, while some NFL players purchase homes near the cities where they play, Goodwin comes home.
“I really enjoy going to the schools and talking with the students, and I hope we’re able to do that after the season. Because of the virus, we couldn’t, but I hope to make that happen once I get home,” he said. “And we will be doing our fifth camp this year, and it will be at The Highlands Sports Complex, so the kids won’t be too hot.
“The people in Wheeling are the reason why I get to do what I do in this league,” Goodwin added. “That’s why I love it so much. I get to show the kids that anything is possible if they work hard enough to make it happen.”
