American football player (1911?1997)
American football player
Tod Goodwin
|
| Position:
| End
|
|---|
|
| Born:
| (
1911-12-05
)
December 5, 1911
Wheeling, West Virginia
, U.S.
|
|---|
| Died:
| January 7, 1997
(1997-01-07)
(aged 85)
|
|---|
| Height:
| 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
|
|---|
| Weight:
| 184 lb (83 kg)
|
|---|
|
| High school:
| Bellaire
(
Bellaire, Ohio
)
|
|---|
| College:
| West Virginia
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|---|
|
| Receptions:
| 33
|
|---|
| Receiving yards:
| 511
|
|---|
| Receiving touchdowns:
| 6
|
|---|
|
|
| Player stats at
PFR
|
|
|
Charles R. "Tod" Goodwin
(December 5, 1911 – January 7, 1997) was an American athlete who played
football
collegiately at
West Virginia University
. Playing the position of
end
, Goodwin spent the 1935 and 1936 season playing professional football for the
New York Football Giants
.
Goodwin was the NFL leader in receptions with 26 in 1935, which earned him second-team honors on the
1935 All-Pro Team
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early years
[
edit
]
Charles R. Goodwin, known to family and friends as "Tod," was born December 5, 1911, in
Wheeling, West Virginia
. He grew up in Bellaire, Ohio, attending
Bellaire High School
in that city.
[1]
College career
[
edit
]
Goodwin played football collegiately at
West Virginia University
(WVU), where the
end
gained a reputation both for superlative pass-catching skills and for an exuberant confidence that offended the sensibilities of some traditionalists.
[1]
As a sophomore at WVU, Goodwin's arrogant patter inspired head coach
Earle "Greasy" Neale
to force him to wear a sign for a week reading
"I Am Cocky,"
in an attempt to shame Goodwin to humility.
[1]
At the end of the week of what was intended as a public humiliation, Goodwin showed up before the team with a new sign that he had made himself, reading simply
"I Am Still Cocky."
[1]
Professional career
[
edit
]
Goodwin signed to play with the
New York Football Giants
of the
National Football League
in 1935, the last year before institution of the
NFL draft
. The jocular and gregarious Goodwin was popular among his teammates, earning the nicknames "Dingbat," "Baby Face," and "Mouth" from his Giants comrades.
[1]
His brashness aside, Goodwin produced on the field, leading the NFL in receiving in the run-heavy year of 1935 with 26 receptions for 432 yards and 4 touchdowns.
[2]
Goodwin's reception total was a new league record, albeit short-lived, as in 1936 it was surpassed by future
Hall of Famer
Don Hutson
of the
Green Bay Packers
.
[3]
The effort was good enough for Goodwin to be named as a second-team member of the
1935 All-Pro Team
.
[2]
See also
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Barry Gottehrer,
The Giants of New York: The History of Professional Football's Most Fabulous Dynasty.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1963; pg. 124.
- ^
a
b
Gottehrer,
The New York Giants,
pg. 131.
- ^
Gottehrer,
The New York Giants,
pg. 144.
External links
[
edit
]