Happiness Buys Loyalty To Bucs
June 9th, 2025
Strong bond to Tampa Bay.
The same person who created a nationwide stink and rare Bucs mega-drama is the same person who may be responsible for the Bucs having arguably the deepest wide receiver room in the NFL.
If Dan Pompei of The Athletic is typing about the Bucs, Joe is reading it. And the veteran NFL writer, who calls South Tampa his part-time home, dug out a really cool element in a must-read feature on Bucs receiver Chris Godwin.
Godwin had several suitors for his services when he was a free agent this spring, Pompei pointed out. One was the Steelers, who later traded for DK Metcalf and washed their hands of temperamental George Pickens.
Boy, Godwin and Pickens are about polar opposites.
Godwin’s agent wanted him out of Tampa Bay and into New England, where creepy Bob Kraft was flashing loads of money in Godwin’s face. Yet the very same person who blew a gasket on social media over how Godwin was being used in 2023 was the very same person responsible for keeping Godwin in Tampa Bay.
That was Godwin’s wife, Mariah.
My, how things have changed in less than two years.
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht had only so much Team Glazer loot to offer Godwin. Kraft had much more. But Godwin’s emotional tie to the Bucs won out — and a desire to make another run at the Super Bowl.
Mariah Godwin’s advice was the tipping point, per Pompei. Long story short, the Godwins (and their dogs) consider Tampa their forever home.
[Mike] Evans is one of many Bucs, including support staff workers, who made Godwin want to remain in Tampa. The organization is as comfortable to him as worn-in cleats.
“It’s not always the case that you are surrounded by a ton of good people who care about the right things, who have similar goals and treat people with respect,” he says. “The first thing for me is I want to work with people that I enjoy it with.”
It seems it wasn’t just Mariah Godwin and teammates influencing Godwin’s decision to stick around. Pompei noted Godwin has a tight group of friends of current and past Bucs who regularly hang out, including Cam Brate, Ryan Griffin, Anthony Nelson and Cade Otton and their wives.
Pompei detailed Godwin’s injury wasn’t just a dislocated ankle. His foot was nearly destroyed.
Godwin also fractured his fibula, tore his deltoid and had a high ankle sprain.
The post-op pain was the worst Godwin has ever experienced, he told Pompei.
What did not involve any pain for Godwin was his decision to stick in Tampa.
“If I ended up going to New England, it would have been solely based off money because everything else was telling me to stay here.”
Godwin also told Pompei he plans to keep playing football until the last drop of football ability drips from his body.
As Joe stated, Pompei is a first-class chronicler of the NFL and his latest on Godwin is a fantastic read. Enjoy!
June 9th, 2025 at 10:53 am
Roquan Smith deserves to be carried off the field in pieces. What a despicable piece of feces.
June 9th, 2025 at 11:00 am
He’s already up to about 100 million in career earnings, at some point it must occur to him, “How much money do I actually need?”
June 9th, 2025 at 11:02 am
That story says a lot about the Bucs’ organization. A lot of teams talk about camaraderie among players, but the entire organization in Tampa seems to be built on character, integrity, and respect. How refreshing is that!
June 9th, 2025 at 11:11 am
Any decision you make in life that solely is about money is more than likely not the correct decision.
June 9th, 2025 at 11:30 am
GO BUCS
June 9th, 2025 at 11:40 am
Joe … ‘Pompei detailed Godwin’s injury wasn’t just a dislocated ankle. His foot was nearly destroyed. Godwin also fractured his fibula, tore his deltoid and had a high ankle sprain. The post-op pain was the worst Godwin has ever experienced, he told Pompei.’
I really wish I hadn’t read that now Joe, particulary the ‘his foot was nearly destroyed part’ and the ‘post-op pain’ part. That’s horrible. I can’t even imagine what Chris is going through trying to bounce back.
Love the part where Chris tells Pompei that ‘he plans to keep playing football until the last drop of football ability drips from his body.’ That’s the sign IMO of a player who REALLY loves playing football. We’re lucky to have him.
June 9th, 2025 at 12:03 pm
Why would Roquan Smith do that?
It was the end of the game.
We had no chance of winning.
But as we saw with Sean Payton when the universe broke his leg for his sins.
The universe has a way to working things out.
Did you see the Ravens in the Super Bowl?
I didn’t.
And I don’t think they we will ever win a Super Bowl.
June 9th, 2025 at 12:43 pm
I’m not so sure Smith intended to harm Godwin but only the players know. I haven’t seen the replay of that and not too sure I want to.
June 9th, 2025 at 12:51 pm
DR, I felt the same way when I read the description of the injury(s). No wonder there’s uncertainty about the timing of his return. A lot of healing needs to happen. But considering the contract renewal, the Bucs must be pretty confident he will heal and be back on the field again. You just have to wonder, what kind of hit caused all of those injuries?
June 9th, 2025 at 1:45 pm
Smith didn’t do anything wrong. That was on bowels that game was a wrap Evans was already hurt n out Godwin had no business being in that game
June 9th, 2025 at 2:01 pm
@Jerseybuc
Textbook hip drop tackle against Chris as I recall. They’re outlawed by the league for a reason.
June 9th, 2025 at 2:10 pm
Love to read it but I don’t have a NY Times subscription.
No more cable tv bill, cut the cord 🥳 . Now it’s 50 separate subs on top of Internet service that adds up to twice as much $.