It’s challenging to have a 12-year profession within the NFL. It’s even tougher to have a 12-year profession while you’re not a perennial Pro Bowl contender. Regardless, Cowboys veteran cornerback and special teams ace C.J. Goodwin has done just that, and yesterday, he decided to hang up his cleats and retire, in accordance with a report from WTOV9 news.
Growing up in West Virginia, Goodwin was an athlete, competing in track and basketball, but he didn’t play football until his senior yr at The Linsly School. He went to school initially for basketball, playing two seasons at Bethany College before transferring to Fairmont State. He walked on to the Fighting Falcons football team, earning a scholarship after one season as a large receiver. When then-head coach Mike Lopez was fired and accepted a defensive coordinator position at California University of Pennsylvania, Goodwin followed to proceed playing under Lopez, but he ended up playing totally on special teams.
In consequence, Goodwin went undrafted in 2014 as a Division-II transfer special teamer. Goodwin had gone to highschool with the son of Steelers Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount and worked as a farmhand for Blount for seven years while growing up, so Goodwin called Blount and asked if he might persuade Pittsburgh to offer him a possibility. He ended up signing as an undrafted free agent with the Steelers following a workout, and he spent his rookie yr on the team’s practice squad. Pittsburgh signed him to a reserve/futures deal but waived him in final roster cuts the next yr.
Over two months later, Goodwin signed to the Falcons’ practice squad to complete the 2015 season. In training camp the following summer, Atlanta converted him to cornerback. In 2016, he made his NFL debut playing 14 games and even earning his first and only start because the Falcons played their solution to the Super Bowl. Though they were defeated, the previous D-II walk-on notched three tackles on the most important stage of the game.
The following season, Goodwin was waived after 12 more games with the Falcons. The Cardinals claimed him and played him within the last two games of the yr before cutting him within the offseason. Goodwin spent two shorts stints with the Giants and 49ers that offseason before landing in Cincinnati to complete out the summer. The Bengals waived him in final roster cuts but re-signed him to their practice squad the following day.
Later into the yr, the Cowboys signed Goodwin off Cincinnati’s taxi squad, but Goodwin broke his forearm shortly after, landing on injured reserve for eight games before returning for the regular season finale and the playoffs. Returning healthy with the team in 2019, Goodwin played in all 16 games for the primary time in his profession. Except for a season-ending pectoral injury costing him 12 games in 2023, Goodwin would go on to have perfect attendance for the remainder of his profession.
Ultimately, as a core special teamer, Goodwin’s stats don’t jump off the page. He finished his profession with 94 total tackles, two passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. More importantly, he finished with 12 years of NFL experience as a small school transfer and an undrafted free agent.