“The Real Tom”
June 14th, 2021
NFL wide receiver, author.
So Joe sees he has competition. Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin is now an NFL columnist.
Move over, Ira!
In a first during a period for the Bucs that have seen too many firsts to count, a member of the Bucs has taken over, if but for a day, for hot-dog-eating-contest-protesting, mock-draft-scowling, L.L.-Bean-wearing, Second Amendment abolitionist, Mike-Florio-arguing, parrot-insensitive, chewing-with-his-mouth-open, soup-gulping, California-train-romancing, anti-football proliferation, outhouse-admiring, airline-napping, steerage-flying, Yogi Berra-worshiping, urinal-picture-taking, video-game-playing, Taylor-Swift-listening, pickpocket-thwarting, Bucs-uniform-frowning, Allie-LaForce-smitten, Big-Ten-Network-hating, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, craft-beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading, NPR-honk, filthy-hotel-staying, fight-instigating, barista-training, Budweiser-tolerant, baseball-scorecard-keeping, pasta-feasting, vomit-dodging scrooge, Kay-Adams-following, Coors-Light-souring, pineapple-upside-down-cake-eating social activist and NFL insider Peter King of NBC Sports.
King writes his weekly “Football Morning in America” column each Monday morning. Well, he actually writes it Sunday night. Each year, King goes on a 6-8 week sabbatical and has others write a guest column for him.
This week, it is Chris Godwin who sits in King’s seat. Joe doesn’t ever remember a Bucs player being knighted with such an honor.
There are all sorts of goodies from that column that Joe will bring you but one of the coolest is Godwin’s story about when the Bucs signed park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking, tequila-shooting, smartphone-phobic, waffle-grilling, trophy-throwing, roller-coaster-scared, numbers-rules-peeved, Super-Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady.
Godwin writes that he thought sure Brady was going to play for the Chargers since Brady is from California. You know, finish his career near home.
So when Godwin got a notification from a sports app that Brady was coming to Tampa Bay, it sparked a surreal few hours for Godwin that even today, he finds tough to believe.
Then I saw we’re agreeing to terms with Tom. I got a notification on my phone. Still I didn’t believe it. I went on Instagram to see if there was any other news on it. I saw a direct message notification. It said it was from “Tom Brady.”
I was like, no, no, no, no, nah, nah. This can’t be the real Tom.
It was the real Tom.
So Godwin writes how he still has that Instagram DM on his phone — who fished out Godwin’s phone that Scotty Miller bounced into the Hillsborough River and how is it still working? — so he can see that dream direct message over and over.
Let me pull it up on my phone. March 17. He said he was excited to play with me, he’s watched me a lot over the years. He even threw a college joke in there: “I won’t hold it against you that you’re a Penn State guy.”
Then he said congrats on your engagement.
I had just gotten engaged. And the greatest player of all time is DM-ing me wishing me good luck with my engagement and saying he’s excited to play with me! That was just shocking to me. I get drafted by Tampa, never thinking I’d ever have a chance to play with Tom Brady, and now, in the prime of my career, he’s gonna be my quarterback.
It really has been a wild ride for Godwin. Going from not knowing who would be his quarterback to landing the greatest, to winning the Super Bowl to marrying his best friend all in the span of about 12-14 months.
Oh yeah, and getting franchise-tagged and becoming a wealthy young man.
Good times for Godwin. Good times for Bucs.
June 14th, 2021 at 5:09 am
It shows he did his research on the team before coming here. That is pretty cool story
And to think that still to this day that brady is just another player. A brad johnson type wherein the defense brought us a champion and beady just threw a few passes
Joe – everything can be saved in cloud / storage for most new phones
So even if you lose iphone like i did , i bought new one and put in codes / password and able to pull up most of my info and contacts and pictures without the old (lost) one
June 14th, 2021 at 5:14 am
Let the Good Times Roll Baby, and good for you Chris, may you have good health and a great season this year. BTW a heads up lol lol at next years Super Bowl Parade in Tampa keep your phone away from Scotty. lol lol
GO BUCS!!!!!
June 14th, 2021 at 5:18 am
Great read by a great man.
June 14th, 2021 at 5:54 am
Great way to start off a monday, tears of joy reading this then the Howard Stern Show. Woohoo
June 14th, 2021 at 6:21 am
That’s a pretty cool story
June 14th, 2021 at 6:47 am
Good times for Godwin, the Bucs and ALL Buc fans!!!
June 14th, 2021 at 7:07 am
Godwin is such a beast in every way. You can’t find me a better top WR pair than Evans and Godwin, who are also top of the top of the human beings chart.
Great to be a Bucs fan.
June 14th, 2021 at 7:30 am
Once in awhile I still have to pinch myself that we have Tom Brady as our S.B. winning Q.B.. It sure sounds better then America’s Q.B..
June 14th, 2021 at 7:37 am
Joe, are the Bucs going to sign Godwin to a long time contract this year? Time is running out. Don’t they have till July?
June 14th, 2021 at 8:30 am
Godwin said last week he wants to be here and the Bucs want him here.
June 14th, 2021 at 8:52 am
Whether Chris Godwn, Ryan Jensen, or any one of the Bucs defenders…..not a single soul ever stated that Winston’s approach made them work harder at their craft. Now we’ve got Brady, and these guys which were already top tier pros at their respective positions, are believing they can do more. That’s awesome for Buc fans.
June 14th, 2021 at 8:54 am
Loved the story about how the play that iced the Green Bay win was a 2-point conversion play. Being able to take one thing and adapt it for another thing is a sign of good coaching.
June 14th, 2021 at 10:18 am
Godwin’s column was a great read. Nice insights from someone who seems to be a really great young man with his head screwed on straight. Hard not to root for him!
June 14th, 2021 at 10:40 am
Half article, half Stupid monikers
June 14th, 2021 at 11:40 am
I bet Brady was hoping the Pats wouldn’t offer him a deal because he really wanted to come down here all along. That deal got done so fast he didn’t even go fishing anywhere else. Greatest qb we ever signed!💯🐏
June 14th, 2021 at 11:51 am
Terrific article. Thanks Chris.
June 14th, 2021 at 5:38 pm
Awesome.
June 16th, 2021 at 12:49 am
DMs are within the app / stores on their servers, not your phone.
So you’d still be able to see those on a new phone.