Chris Godwin talks past, present, and future

Four years ago this past April the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected wide receiver Chris Godwin out of Penn State University, in the third-round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Now, Godwin is entering his fourth-season having earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition in just his third-year in the league. Not bad, but he’s not finished either.

Speaking recently with Buccaneers reporter Casey Phillips, Godwin reflected on some of the good and not-so-good differences between his rookie season and today.

“It’s been real interesting,” Godwin said. “Just because like you said, it’s been kind of like this gradual - I guess - ascendance. Now a lot more people, they know who Chris Godwin is, and for me I don’t think it necessarily changes how I approach things which is why it doesn’t really bother me too much.”

While a lot of the spotlight on Godwin has been earned via the 1,300+ yards and nine touchdowns he recorded in 2019, there’s no denying the light is shining a little brighter because of the arrival of quarterback, Tom Brady.

Asked by Phillips what it might mean for his own game to play with a quarterback like Brady, Godwin didn’t shy away from how big the impact the experience could be this year and into his future.

“I think he can help me a lot. I think there’s so much more football that I can learn, that I’m excited to learn about. I’m going to use him as much as possible to learn all those things. I’m trying to be a sponge with all this information, all this knowledge that he has, and just try to take my game to the next level. You know, I feel like if I don’t do that it was a waste of whatever time he has here.”

Big performances by Godwin, running mate Mike Evans, the upward turn of the defense in the back half of 2019, the arrival of Brady and Rob Gronkowski and more, have all led to very high expectations for the entire Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization in 2020.

When he talks about his own expectations for the upcoming season, it’s clear Godwin expects himself to bring everything we’ve seen thus far in his career and even more, as he continues to focus on getting better.

“My expectations are always higher. Regardless of what I did the previous year, I always expect myself to take a step forward because I want to be the best version of myself that I can be.”

Later on in the conversation Phillips asked Godwin a little bit more about the differences he’s seeing from year one to now. In response, the receiver mentioned a bigger sense of comfort-ability with what he’s doing day in and day out.

To catch the entire conversation, which I highly recommend you do, check out the full interview of Chris Godwin by Tampa Bay Buccaneers reporter, Casey Phillips.