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Rowlett’s Goodwin makes an early impression at UT
By DEVIN HASSON/Staff Writer
dhasson@acnpapers.com
Rowlett graduate Marquise Goodwin always seems to find himself in the spotlight.
It is not a place that the unassuming Goodwin seeks out, but one that is hard to avoid with his combination of outstanding athletic ability and the habit of rising to the occasion.
But Goodwin, who earned a track and field scholarship to the school, always had another dream of playing football for the Longhorns. For the past few months, he has not only lived it, but also made a huge contribution along the way.
Goodwin has emerged as one of the top playmakers for No. 2 Texas (13-0) and he will once again be in the spotlight when the team takes on top-ranked Alabama (13-0) on Jan. 7 in the 2010 Citi BCS National Championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
With final exams for the fall semester now in the rearview mirror after wrapping up last week, Goodwin and the Longhorns can now turn their full attention to the Crimson Tide.
“Right now, we’re just preparing for the game,” Goodwin said. “We feel good, we’ll be ready.”
Goodwin was a first-team all-district selection at wide receiver in the last two seasons at Rowlett, but his rise to the status of starter at a major Division I program as a true freshman is remarkable considering the path he took.
While many incoming freshman graduated early so they could go through spring workouts with the team, Goodwin was winning five medals and leading the Eagles to their second consecutive Class 5A track and field state championship.
During the summer, as most of the new players were getting acclimated with the campus and getting to know their new team, Goodwin was busy setting a national high school record in the long jump (26-10) at the U.S. Championships.
In fact, Goodwin was not able to show off what he could do on the football field until official fall workouts began in August.
Despite the late start, as well as competing against a bevy of other talented players, the dream was in sight.
“My goal was coming in and playing football,” Goodwin said. “I needed to catch up with the plays, but other than that, I didn’t feel like I was that far behind.”
During his first month with the team Goodwin made a good impression. Not only did he suit up for the team’s Sept. 5 opener against the University of Louisiana at Monroe, thus earning him a football scholarship, he got on the field in the second half, catching three passes for 39 yards.
“It is a great feeling being a walk-on and then suiting up and earning that scholarship,” Goodwin said. “I’ve dreamed for a long time about being a UT athlete.”
While some might have suggested that his 5-9, 170-pound frame was not suited for the rigors of college football, Goodwin refused to believe it.
He certainly had no doubters back in Rowlett, where his athletic exploits had taught people that anything is possible.
“I wasn’t really surprised because this is something he set his mind that he was going to do,” Rowlett head football coach Kiff Hardin said. “He had a goal of going down there and playing for those guys, and knowing Marquise since he was in junior high, whenever he has set a goal, he has the work ethic and ability to get it.”
The Longhorns have no shortage of stars, including a Heisman Trophy finalist in quarterback Colt McCoy, a Biletnikoff Award finalist in receiver Jordan Shipley and a Thorpe Award finalist in safety Earl Thomas, but Goodwin began finding ways to stand out.
In the Oct. 10 game against Colorado, he blocked a punt that led to a touchdown that proved to be a momentum-changing play in Texas’ 38-14 victory.
The following week, Goodwin shined in a Homecoming game of sorts when Texas took on Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. With the game tied in the third quarter, Goodwin caught a pass from McCoy, shook off a defender and raced to the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown that would prove to be huge as the Longhorns went on to claim a 16-13 win.
On Thanksgiving night, Texas’ hopes of a national title were on the ropes against rival Texas A&M in College Station.
In the fourth quarter, the Aggies were smelling upset after pulling to within 42-39 before Goodwin quieted both the crowd and those hopes when he returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
While those individual highlights would be impressive on any player’s reel, Goodwin’s biggest moment came on Dec. 5 when Hunter Lawrence kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired to give Texas a 13-12 victory over Nebraska in the Big XII championship to earn a spot in the national championship game.
Goodwin had only two catches for four yards, but individual statistics have never been the top priority.
“When we won the Big XII championship that was definitely the highlight,” he said. “That was one of the big goals the team set and we were able to do it.”
On the field, Goodwin has 27 receptions for 209 yards and has averaged 22.1 yards per return on kickoff duties. Off the field, he has seemingly made a successful transition to life as a college student-athlete.
Goodwin and Hardin text or talk at least once a week, continuing a relationship that started back when Goodwin was in middle school.
“I always check on how the grades are doing because that is the most important thing, and then we talk about football,” Hardin said. ”The number one thing (I tell them ) is being with the right people and staying in the right place at the right time; if you do that then you can focus on football and competing and then trust yourself.”
Hardin has plenty of experience with players moving on to a bigger stage. Goodwin is not the only Rowlett standout at UT, as senior Jared Norton has been a key member of the defense for the past three years, although he has been injured for most of the this season, and former quarterback Brandon Loy was the starting shortstop on the baseball team that advanced to the championship series of the College World Series last June.
Conversations naturally revolve around athletics, but Hardin and the other coaches also stress the other side of being a student-athlete.
“Go get your degree and the rest of it works out,” Hardin said. “A good athlete would not be recruited to be on scholarship if he didn’t have the ability, so I think that takes care of itself as long as they take care of things in the classroom.”
Goodwin said he has enjoyed the transition to college life. He said that while he could walk anonymously around campus for the first few weeks, he admitted to getting a little more notice these days.
He also credited Shipley, the Longhorns’ senior receiver, for taking him under his wing and being a role model both on and off the field.
While Goodwin has been able to juggle the studies, practices and other time commitments, he has not been able to fit in any work in his other specialty.
As one of the most decorated track and field athletes in the history of the state, Goodwin was one of the prized recruits for the Texas team. Yet despite not being able to work on that craft, he said is not worried about making the transition when the time comes.
“That’s what he did at Rowlett,” Hardin said. “When it was football season, he was totally focused on football and then when it was track season, that was his total focus.
“He went in to prove something in football and be a contributor and he has done that. He’ll do that in track, as well, and I expect him to succeed there because he is just an exceptional athlete and a special young man.”
There are some coaches who believe that focusing on one sport is the right way to go, especially when an athlete has a specialty as Goodwin does in being a state champion in the long jump and triple jump.
But Rowlett head track and field coach David Nanez believes that what Goodwin is doing on the football field will also pay dividends when the spring rolls around.
“I think it is good to be able to compete in football because I think there are things in football that can help him both in indoor and outdoor track,” he said. “There are a lot of benefits to being a multi-sport athlete.”
Goodwin might not have had high expectations as a walk-on football player, but that could be different during the track season, where his pedigree is more well-known.
Nanez, who called Goodwin “the best athlete I’ve ever coached,” thinks his former star will be up for the challenge.
“What he did in high school last year would have won the Big XII, so I think now, especially when you have that level of coaching, he is only going to get better,” Nanez said.
As a two-time World Junior Champion in the long jump and the 400 relay, Goodwin’s name is mentioned among the potential members of the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 Games in London. That is a sight Nanez could envision ever since Goodwin broke on to the scene and qualified for the state meet as a freshman.
“I think it is a realistic goal, especially in the long jump,” Nanez said. “He’s going to have fewer events, the jumps and maybe the relays, but I can honestly see him competing in London in 2012.”
Goodwin has talked in the past about competing in the Olympics as one of his goals, but has always stressed that he has a lot of dreams.
One of those dreams is the one he is currently living, and for now, that it is his primary focus.
“I’m really not sure (about track), I have to get through football season first,” Goodwin said. “Our focus is playing good football and playing to our optimum level. We just want to focus on going out and playing Texas football and trying to get a win.”
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