‘One dog at a time’: Bucs’ Chris Godwin has extra incentive to make the catch
By Greg Auman Nov 7, 2019
TAMPA, Fla. — It’s already happened 54 times this season.
Bucs fans rejoice. Proud fantasy football owners celebrate.
And yes, every time Chris Godwin catches a pass … a dog’s life is saved.
This isn’t a meme. The 23-year-old from Penn State, enjoying a breakout year in his third NFL season, has an extra incentive to hold on when the ball is coming his way.
On Monday night, he and his girlfriend, Mariah DelPercio, will host an event to officially launch the Team Godwin Foundation, and one of its central causes is working to help with animal adoption.
Godwin has a “Receptions for Rescue” campaign, inviting fans to pledge a donation for every catch he makes. Godwin himself pledged $50 for each catch to get things started, and the program has a modest goal of $10,000 for the first year, a target that gets a little closer with each target Godwin gets on the field.
“Shelter dogs are a very vulnerable population because they can’t speak for themselves,” DelPercio said. “Nine times out of 10, they’re not there because of anything they did. We want to use the platform that Chris and I have to educate people, to change minds. It comes full circle because we had no idea.”
Chris Godwin and his girlfriend, Mariah DelPercio, will host an event Monday night to officially launch the Team Godwin Foundation, and one of its central causes is working to help with animal adoption. (Courtesy of Mariah DelPercio)
Finding his cause
Godwin wasn’t always a dog person.
Growing up in Delaware, he didn’t have a dog in his home, so his first extended interaction was in high school when he started going out with DelPercio, whose father Mark was his coach at Middletown High. Her family had two dogs, and one, Dino, did not like men at all.
“He’d warm up to them, but if men came to the door, a delivery man, the pizza man, someone he didn’t know, he always barked,” she said. “That was his thing. But from the first time Chris came over, he absolutely loved him. He would sit on his lap. Chris was the one that he liked.”
As the young couple got settled in Tampa during Godwin’s rookie year in 2017, they got a Pomsky — part Pomerian, part Siberian husky — named Ghost. They had gone to a pet store, thrilled with the addition to their family but also unaware of just how many dogs are available for adoption and waiting for homes in shelters.
Athletes and Causes, a Tampa-based company that helps pair sports stars across the country with charities, reached out to Godwin in spring 2018 about starting a foundation.
“At that time, he just didn’t have anything that he felt a pull towards,” DelPercio said. “He didn’t want to do it just to do it, so we just thought on it for a while.”
DelPercio started volunteering at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, learning quickly about the sad number of dogs euthanized daily because shelters can’t keep them all — nationally, the estimate is 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats. More than 1.5 million animals killed because they can’t find a home. Godwin volunteered in the offseason as well, and they knew their next dog would be adopted from a shelter.
“A lot of people don’t know that they don’t know,” Godwin said of adopting dogs from shelters. “Hopefully, we’re doing what we can to influence people in the right direction, so they can buy in, one dog at a time.”
Chris Godwin spends time with Ziggy, his adopted American Staffordshire terrier. Godwin’s “Receptions for Rescue” campaign invites fans to pledge a donation for every catch he makes to help save pets in need and educate the public on the importance of adopting. (Courtesy of Mariah DelPercio)
In March, they adopted Ziggy, an American Staffordshire terrier, a close cousin to the pit bull terrier. She won Godwin over instantly, and he had found his passion, found his cause. He saw how at ease she was right away, making herself comfortable on their couch that first day, taking a long nap in her new home.
“Around 2,000 dogs were euthanized today,” Godwin wrote in a long Instagram post in July. “The only thing more upsetting is that it will happen again tomorrow. It will keep happening until we do something. It will keep happening until we stop being ignorant about it.”
Godwin has already found inspiration from around the NFL. In August, the Browns held a dog adoption drive at their training camp, a “Puppy Pound” campaign that has led to more than 400 adoptions since 2015. Before the Bucs’ game against the Titans two weeks ago, Godwin spoke briefly with cornerback Logan Ryan, who has had his own animal rescue foundation in Nashville since 2017. Like Ryan, Godwin and DelPercio post weekly photos on social media of dogs seeking homes.
A perfect match
Cameron Leff knew Godwin was a dog lover before she realized he was an NFL player.
Leff runs playgroups as a dog trainer at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, which has a weekly dog walk, inviting people in the community to stop by their facility on Armenia Avenue on Saturday mornings and help by walking a dog for about three-quarters of a mile. It’s good exercise for both sides and lets people have some dog time if they’re not in a position to own one of their own. Godwin was there one Saturday with DelPercio, and Leff paired him with one of their biggest dogs.
“I had no clue, and of course, someone tells me ‘Oh, by the way, he’s an NFL player,’ and I’m like ‘Oh, crap. I just gave him the strongest dog. If I get him hurt!” she said.
Godwin, who is 6-foot-1 and 209 pounds, survived the walk unscathed. The Humane Society has a “test drive” program, allowing people to adopt a pet but return it after as much as two weeks if it turns out to not be a good fit or clash with another pet in the home. Godwin and DelPercio had an adoption that didn’t work out, and soon after, when Leff saw Ziggy for the first time, they were out of town. Leff, now on their foundation’s board of advisors, saw a perfect match and held the dog for them until they were back in town, happy to help them out.
“I can’t even tell you how amazing it is,” Leff said of their work in helping. “It’s mindblowing. One of the things that Chris has helped out immensely is just getting the word out there. There are a lot of people that don’t know about homeless animals and why people give up their animals. Them getting the word out educates more people who might not have known. You can tell how passionate he is about dogs. That comes through when he talks about it.”
‘Everyone loves dogs’
NFL players, who are very busy with work for large chunks of the year, often young and single and frequently traveling out of town, aren’t always ideal dog owners.
Bucs guard Ali Marpet volunteers in the offseason with the Humane Society as a foster host for puppies, taking care of them until they’re eight weeks old and old enough to be adopted. It isn’t easy parting with them, he said, but he knows they’re headed to good homes.
“Oh, my gosh, yeah,” Marpet said. “They’re so adorable. You know they’re going to good families. I’m incredibly excited for Chris because you know how important this is to him.”
Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston and his fiancée, Breion, have a Labradoodle named Tootsie, and he said a cause like Godwin’s is easy to support.
“Everyone loves dogs,” Winston said. “Saving pets is his name. That’s unique, and any time you can spread awareness to something you’re passionate about, it really helps you use your platform.”
The Bucs’ young nucleus of players includes several who have started foundations much like Godwin is doing, each with causes that are personal to them. Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans, tied for the league lead with seven touchdown receptions, launched his with his wife with goals to help get more students into college and also to help families that are victims of domestic abuse.
“We have a platform to do what we want to make change, and that’s what he and (Mariah) are passionate about,” Evans said. “I’ll be at the event supporting him and it’ll be a great time. That’s why people start foundations, and there are a lot of causes I try to help. For him, it’s dogs. They love dogs.”
Bucs tackle Donovan Smith, who works extensively with autism awareness, has been a teammate of Godwin’s since they both played at Penn State.
“It’s big and it’s important. You have to use the platform while you have it,” Smith said. “Chris Godwin, he’s a stand-up guy, and you see how he’s jumped full in. That’s what you have to do. When you find something that’s near and dear to your heart, being able to give back, it’s definitely a blessing.”
Sep 29, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin (12) makes a leaping catch to score a touchdown in front of Los Angeles Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman (23) in the second quarter at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Acts of kindness
The launch of the foundation is well-timed, as Godwin is among the NFL’s biggest breakout stars this year, continuing an impressive ascent in his three seasons with Tampa Bay. He didn’t catch his first touchdown until the final pass of his rookie season, catching a game-winner to beat the Saints. He went from 34 catches as a rookie to 59 last year, catching seven touchdown passes, and he’s gone to another level in the Bucs’ first eight games of 2019.
This spring, new Bucs coach Bruce Arians said Godwin could be “close to a 100-catch guy,” impressive considering there has been only one 100-catch season (Keyshawn Johnson had 106 catches in 2001) in the team’s 43-year history. Godwin’s team-best 54 catches put him on pace for a franchise-record 108, and his six touchdown catches are one off the NFL lead.
He and Evans are one of if not the most productive 1-2 combos in the league, a highlight in what has been overall a disappointing first half to the 2019 season. Godwin is also an exceptional blocker, so he’s helping the running game when passes aren’t headed in his direction.
“He just works,” offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said. “That’s all I really know of the guy. Ever since we’ve been here, he’s just worked. He’s coming into his own, figuring things out. He’s winning matchups, making plays for us, putting us in position to help us win football games.”
His success on the field is rewarding just on its own, but having the cause attached to his name now is something to rememeber as he makes a difficult catch in traffic. He has caught 75 percent of the passes thrown his way this season, and of the NFL’s top 50 receivers in total catches, that’s the fourth-highest catch rate.
Godwin stresses that the donations per reception can be as small an amount as fans are comfortable with — “literally anything,” he says, putting value in the interaction and the chance to better educate fans, knowing their small gesture can help make a larger difference.
“We were planning on launching this foundation regardless of what was going to happen this year,” Godwin said. “But with the success I’ve been having, it allows us to get in front of more eyes, to have more people to be interested in what I may have going on. It should be really helpful for us in spreading the word.”
Godwin is trying to help with animal adoption on a macro level, but he’s also reaching out on a personal level. Earlier this season, he saw a story on local TV about a Pinellas Park police officer, Joseph Puglia, who was driving on Interstate 275 when he saw a dog in traffic.
“I saw this little dog running across the road, and I was like ‘Oh, God, he’s going to get hit,’ and he ran across and got hit,” Puglia said. “It blasted him and he went sliding across the highway. I was able to swerve over and block the roadway. He was going to get hit again. I kind of thought he was probably already dead. I jumped out, bent down and checked him, saw that he was still breathing, and that’s when I wrapped him up and rushed to an animal hospital.”
The dog was saved, and now has a new home with a woman in Pinellas Park’s city planning department. Hearing the story, Godwin arranged to meet Puglia at the police station, thanking him with an autographed ball and a No. 12 Bucs jersey. He also invited Puglia to serve on his foundation’s board of advisors.
“I didn’t expect all that. It was great,” said Puglia, who has worked in Pinellas Park for 20 years and will be at Monday’s event with his wife. “We’re excited to be a part of it.”
Godwin said Puglia’s act of kindness just resonated with him, reminding him of how a single moment can inspire others to do the same.
“If we can just change one dog’s life, that’s good enough for us,” Godwin said. “We’re trying to make a difference in any way we can.”