Najee Goode (born June 4, 1989) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the fifth round of the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. He has also played with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

, with whom he won

Super Bowl LII Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...

Early years

Goode attended Benedictine High School where he

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. In football, he was a

dual-threat quarterback In gridiron football, a dual-threat quarterback, also known as a running quarterback, is a quarterback (QB) who possesses the skills and physique to run with the ball if necessary. With the rise of several blitz heavy defensive schemes and increa ...

as well as a linebacker. He was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP) of the

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban County (United States), county located in the Northeast Ohio, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.- ...

East-West high school All-star game. In track & field, he won the Division II state championship in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

with a school record of 172’1". He then attended

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

(WVU) where he

majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

industrial engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex process (engineering), processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, kno ...

. While at West Virginia, in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, he tied for fourth on the single season list for tackles-for-loss with 15.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After being drafted by the Buccaneers, Goode took part in the Buccaneers rookie mini-camp. On May 14, 2012, Buccaneers.com announced Goode had signed a four-year deal to become an official member of the

NFL roster, the same day as college roommate, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammate

Keith Tandy Jordan Keith Tandy (born February 12, 1989) is a former American football safety and Coach who is currently coaching with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played ...

signed his rookie deal. He was released on September 1, 2013, when the Buccaneers trimmed their roster to 53 players.

Philadelphia Eagles

Goode was signed to the

on September 2, 2013. On September 9, 2014, he was placed on injured reserve after injuring his pectoral muscle in the season opening win against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. Goode was released by the Eagles on September 5, 2015 for final roster cuts. He was re-signed on September 22. On December 6, 2015, Goode scored his first career

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

on a blocked punt by Chris Maragos. The Eagles won over the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, 35–28. In February 2016 he re-signed with the Eagles. On September 3, 2016, Goode was released by the Eagles during final cuts. On September 10, 2016, he was re-signed by the Eagles. On March 8, 2017, Goode signed a one-year contract extension with the Eagles. Goode finished the 2017 season with 22 tackles and won

when the Eagles defeated the

41–33. He had two tackles in the game.

Indianapolis Colts

On April 4, 2018, Goode signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

Jacksonville Jaguars

On May 1, 2019, Goode signed with the

. He played in 10 games before being placed on injured reserve on November 26, 2019. He finished the season with a career-high 27 tackles, one sack, and two passes defensed.

Indianapolis Colts (second stint)

On October 8, 2020, Goode was signed to the Indianapolis Colts practice squad. He was released on October 27.

Career statistics

Personal life

He is the son of Fatimah and John Goode. Goode had a daughter born in June 2016. He was married on July 6, 2019 on Jekyll Island, Georgia

References

External links

*
Philadelphia Eagles bio

West Virginia Mountaineers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goode, Najee 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Cleveland American football linebackers West Virginia Mountaineers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Philadelphia Eagles players Indianapolis Colts players Jacksonville Jaguars players