Blue White Illustrated

May 2022

Penn State Sports Magazine

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1464375

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 61 of 67

6 2 M A Y 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A lmost immediately, it became clear that Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide re- ceiver Chris Godwin had a problem. Godwin took off across the middle of the field near Tampa Bay's 40-yard line during a home game on Dec. 19 against the New Orleans Saints. Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady found him in a pocket of space, delivering the ball just before Saints cornerback PJ Williams ar- rived on the scene. Before Godwin even turned his head, though, everyone inside Raymond James Stadium and watching on a national "Sunday Night Football" broadcast knew the collision wouldn't be pretty. Williams had gone low, driving his left shoulder into Godwin's right knee. As Williams popped up to celebrate his hit, the former Penn State wideout remained on the turf. Godwin had suffered tears to his ACL and MCL that ended his season. The gri- mace visible through his facemask told the story. Brady advocated for the abolition of that type of hit in the fallout of the news, asking the NFL Players Association to take action. "I've seen that hit too many times, where a defenseless pass catcher is in the process of catching a ball, then he's hit by the defender," Brady said. "A lot of the defenders will say, 'Well, we can't hit them in the head anymore.' Well, the point is, you can't hit anyone in the head anymore and you can't hit anyone in the knees anymore, except for receivers. You can still hit them in the knees, which doesn't make any sense to me." The injury seemed particularly prob- lematic for Godwin, who was nearing the culmination of a contract year. With 4,643 yards and 29 touchdowns to show for his first five seasons at the NFL level, would he still get the big payday he had been anticipating before the injury? As it turned out, the answer was yes. The Buccaneers first placed their franchise tag on Godwin in early March, meaning that he would be back in Tampa Bay for 2022 regardless of what hap- pened next. Then Godwin agreed to a three-year, $60 million contract about two weeks later. Of that total, $40 mil- lion is guaranteed. "It was definitely a whirlwind of emo- tions. It was a lot of uncertainty at dif- ferent points, and sometimes it leaves you questioning just why things hap- pen," Godwin told the Tampa Bay media. "But you can't control what happens to you. You can just control your personal response to it and how you choose to go about it." As of late March, Godwin had declined to give a timeline on his injury recovery. "This is my first time ever going through this," he said. "I'm not really sure what those kinds of timelines look like. "I'm just kind of taking it one day at a time. It's a long process and I think pro- jecting far in the future, it can be a bit daunting. I'm trying to keep my positiv- ity and trying to enjoy where I'm at now, enjoying the little victories." In his five NFL seasons, Godwin has caught 342 passes for 4,643 yards and 29 touchdowns. He's working his way back from a knee injury that ended his 2021 season in December. PHOTO BY SCOTT CLARK/ESPN IMAGES With New Contract, Bucs Show Faith In Chris Godwin DAV I D E C K E RT | DAV I D E C K E R T 9 8 @ G M A I L . C O M PSU IN THE PROS

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue White Illustrated - May 2022