Charles R. "Tod" Goodwin (December 5, 1911January 7, 1997) was an American athlete who played

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 ...

collegiately at

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 ...

. Playing the position of

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, Goodwin spent the 1935 and 1936 season playing professional football for the

New York Football Giants New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. Goodwin was the NFL leader in receptions with 26 in 1935, which earned him second-team honors on the 1935 All-Pro Team.

Biography

Early years

Charles R. Goodwin, known to family and friends as "Tod," was born December 5, 1911, in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

. He grew up in Bellaire, Ohio, attending Bellaire High School in that city.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.

College career

Goodwin played football collegiately at

(WVU), where the

gained a reputation both for superlative pass-catching skills and for an exuberant confidence that offended the sensibilities of some traditionalists. 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. 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."''

Professional career

Goodwin signed to play with the

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

in 1935, the last year before institution of the

NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. The jocular and gregarious Goodwin was popular among his teammates, earning the nicknames "Dingbat," "Baby Face," and "Mouth" from his Giants comrades. 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.Gottehrer, ''The New York Giants,'' pg. 131. Goodwin's reception total was a new league record, albeit short-lived, as in 1936 it was surpassed by future

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Don Hutson Donald Montgomery Hutson (January 31, 1913 – June 26, 1997) was an American professional football player and assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as an end and spent his entire 11-year professional career with the ...

of the

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.Gottehrer, ''The New York Giants,'' pg. 144. The effort was good enough for Goodwin to be named as a second-team member of the 1935 All-Pro Team.

Footnotes

External links