'Grief doesn't just disappear': Chris Godwin off to hot start despite adversity

TAMPA, Fla. — Chris Godwin is enjoying arguably the finest start to any season in Year 8 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But for the Pro Bowl wide receiver, the present is the only thing that matters.

He could allow his mind to drift from it — and he’ll sometimes do that in the quiet moments away from football — but then it would rob him of today, and he needs today.

He’s recorded three touchdowns in the first three games of the season — already beating last year’s total (two) from the regular season and postseason combined — and he’s tied for third most in the NFL (teammate Mike Evans also has three). His 27 catches through the first four games are tied with Amon-Ra St. Brown for third most.

And yet privately, he’s navigating the greatest loss he’s ever experienced — his father, Rod Christopher Godwin Sr., died of cancer shortly after the Bucs’ season ended in the divisional round of the playoffs.

For Chris Godwin, he was his hero, the one who taught him about Frank Sinatra and screamed, “Half man, half monster, the Manster!” at all his games.

“It’s been a journey to say the least,” Godwin told ESPN, speaking publicly for the first time about his father’s death. “Like it was very, very tough early on. And then very weird like when the season started and really processing like him not being there, whether it’s before the game or just being able to talk to him after the fact.”

For Godwin, that meant compartmentalizing in order to move forward. The intricacies of football and specifically his position — after his return to the slot — help.

“I’m focused on so many things, I can’t just be focused on whatever grief that I have, and you learn that as a football player, just in general — a next-play mentality,” Godwin said. “You can’t just be focusing on a bad play in the past or a good play in the past because you have to focus on this one.”

Next up, Godwin and the Bucs (3-1) have an NFC South showdown when the Bucs (3-1) face the Atlanta Falcons (2-2) on the road Thursday (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

His improbable third-and-10 catch with 1:16 to go last year against the Falcons was vital to the Bucs’ season. He zigzagged his way across the field past two defenders before a third finally brought him down at the Atlanta 15-yard line for a 32-yard gain and set up Cade Otton’s 11-yard touchdown to steal the 29-25 victory in Week 14.

On top of that, the Falcons have surrendered 34 catches to slot receivers — fourth most in the league — and 17 first downs, sixth most.

“You’ve got to be ready for when the moment calls,” cornerback Zyon McCollum said. “And Chris is always ready.”

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GODWIN’S PLAY IN Atlanta was key, but leading up to that game, that moment, he spent the week answering questions about his [lack of] production, having failed to produce a catch against the Carolina Panthers the week before.

“It kind of catapulted us into that big run that we had and gave us the confidence that we needed to take control of the division and make the playoff run,” McCollum said. “Seeing Chris do that — I mean he always shows up in big moments — that means a little more and it’s a little more special.”

That play was made from the slot — where Godwin is his most comfortable and impactful, having played there from 2019 through 2022, and where he’s returned full time this year under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen. There, he’s able to get open quickly and use his physicality as he navigates traffic. He likes that it allows him to be more creative and utilize his versatility.

Godwin’s been a third-down machine this season, accounting for half the Bucs’ third-down catches with 10 — fourth most in the NFL — and he’s leading all receivers with 188 yards after the catch.

“I don’t think I thought he was as sudden as he was in some of the little subtleties of route running, his ability to double people up at times and create separation,” Coen said. “I don’t know if a lot of people would say he’s like an ultra fast guy, but within his role and in short spaces, he knows how to get open. He knows how to create space, he knows how to attack leverage.”

He saw Godwin’s burst on a sail route along the right sideline on the first day of training camp, which had Evans ready to proclaim, “He looks like the Chris Godwin of 2019” — where he had career highs in yards (1,333), touchdowns (nine) and first downs (63).

And then against the Washington Commanders in Week 1, he caught screen after screen after screen.

“I hadn’t seen a guy catch the ball at the line of scrimmage essentially and pierce the defense and people not really be able to tackle him,” Coen said. “He’s stronger than you’d think. … He has had a lot of production so far on some screens for us. … He’s just playing at a high level right now.”

In the Bucs’ Week 2 victory at the Detroit Lions, Godwin accounted for 117 of Baker Mayfield’s 189 passing yards and only passing touchdown. He’s been Mayfield’s safety valve and their improved chemistry has been particularly noticeable when Mayfield has been under duress, especially without starting right tackle Luke Goedeke, who has missed three games with a concussion.

“You talk about scramble drill, but it becomes second nature when you have a smart football player like Chris,” Mayfield said. “If I’m going to extend a play, he’s going to see where I’m going, he’s going to make a guy miss and work with me towards whatever sideline I’m going towards. Chris is an unbelievable player, and we’re very lucky to have him. He makes those plays work.”

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THE SEASON IS big for Godwin given that it’s a contract year for him — and they’ll likely have to maneuver money around to keep him after re-signing Mayfield, Evans, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tristan Wirfs in the offseason.

He spent the past two years feeling like he played well, but he said, “I could tell something was a little bit missing.”

He credits strengthening his quadriceps and gluteal muscles to support the knee and has been intentional with his training to improve explosion and yards after the catch, but he also acknowledged, “It’s just time.”

“Each of the last two seasons have felt different from the one before,” Godwin said. “The further away you get from it, the better off you end up feeling.”

If only grief worked that way too. But it doesn’t, and it’s something he’s had to work through.

“You feel like there’s no space around,” Godwin said. “But as life goes on, it’s like that grief doesn’t just disappear. The room kind of gets bigger and your life kind of expands, but it’s still there. It never disappears — you just figure out how to live life around it.

“There’s a time for me to grieve and a time for me to be in that present moment. And then when I’m on the field, it’s like I got a job to do because my job is on the line. There’s a bunch of people whose jobs depend on me and my teammates doing our jobs.”‘

Coaches, teammates and front office members notice Godwin’s approach, and they believe his steadiness and dependability set him apart.

“He’s the same person every day,” McCollum said. “Whether he’s talking to media, whether he is talking to teammates, whether he is talking to family, you’re going to get the same Chris. Same thing on the field every day. He has the same routine about his business. When you do the same over and over and over and over again, greatness just kind of finds you.”

General manager Jason Licht called him “Mr. Consistency” and a “phenomenal person, a phenomenal player [and] a great example to our entire team,” while coach Todd Bowles said he has “meant everything to this franchise.”

The moments of joy Godwin is finding right now are appreciated and savored when they come, whether it be in a celebratory leaping chest bump with Evans in the end zone or devouring one of his wife Mariah’s postgame treats, like coffee cake. It could also be snuggling up with their rescue dogs, Ghost and Ziggy, or traveling to faraway places like Italy and Switzerland, where he gets to put one of his favorite hobbies to use: photography.

And then he exhales and takes in whatever comes next.

“Obviously life will continue to go on,” Godwin said. “The sun rises, sun sets every single day. So if you just stay where you’re at, you end up missing your life and not being able to grow from it, you could be able to use those things to either help somebody else or to help yourself later on. Because we all experience loss.”