Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin completed a conference call with local Bay Area media to talk about the ordeal of losing his son at child birth. The incident occurred Sunday morning at 4 a.m., and Goodwin said he was then encouraged by his wife, Morgan, to play the game against the Giants Sunday afternoon at Levi’s.
Goodwin caught a 83-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and imediately plunged to his knees in the end zone and raised his hands and face to the sky.
“All the pain, it just came at me at once,” Goodwin said of that moment. He was then mobbed by teammates. Goodwin also said it was Morgan that told him to play the game.
“(She) encouraged me,” he said, “raised my spirits. That’s so cool what my wife did. (It) shows her character more than mine.”
Goodwin wanted to speak about the trajedy in order to reach families enduring the same pain.
“We do have a lot of people that are following us through our journey,” he said. “So we can maybe help people who’ve dealt with similar things that we have gone through or learn things from people who’ve been through our situation”
The 49ers are on their bye week after notching their first win of the season, 31-21, over the Giants. Goodwin not only caught the touchdown pass that undoubtedly inspired his team, he also threw a key block to free up a 47-yard catch and run by tight end Garrett Celek that ended in the end zone.
Goodwin’s inspired play and the 49ers win seemed almost devinely ordered.
““The only reason I made it through the game is because of my faith in God,” he said. “I mentally and physically was not prepared to play in that game at all I wasn’t in it. I just lost my baby.”