49ers falcons

A couple years down the road, Harold Goodwin moved to Central Michigan University to become the
offensive line coach. While there, he had a chance to work with current 49ers tackle Joe Staley, who
enrolled at the school in 2003.
Staley was merely a pass-catching tight end at the time, but Harold Goodwin saw some offensive line
potential. About the first thing he told Staley was to gain some weight.
Though Harold Goodwin claims to be reserved like his brother, the coach in him brings out a different
side.
Staley knows all too well.
Worried more about his receiving yards than a quality block, Staley recalled a contest when he missed
blocking assignments on back-to-back plays. As he came over to the sideline, he soon found out Harold
Goodwin was watching.
“He yells, ‘Are you ever going to block anyone, ever? Ever?’ I felt like that big,” said Staley, holding his
fingers a few inches apart. “He was a yeller, but he was a funny yeller. He would make fun of you almost.
(He and Jonathan) have very contrasting personalities.”
During his time as a Michigan man, Jonathan Goodwin was something of a catch-all. At some point
throughout his college career, he played at each of the five offensive line positions in a game.
Predictably, Jonathan Goodwin just kept his mouth shut and did his job. He earned first-team All Big 10
honors as a senior, when current 49ers receiver Braylon Edwards was his freshman teammate.
“Goody was that silent leader,” Edwards said. “He’s not a vocal guy. He’s not the rah-rah speech type of
guy. He always did things the right way – he was at meetings on time, he practiced hard, he went to
class. … He played it all and he never complained.”
The New York Jets selected Jonathan Goodwin in the fifth round of the 2002 Draft, in a fateful move that
would unite him with a pivotal coach in his career. At that point, Goodwin was locked in as a reserve
guard on the offensive line, spending his first couple years primarily as a special teams player.
But in 2004, the same year he made his first career NFL start against the 49ers, Jonathan Goodwin was
switched to center by offensive line coach Doug Marrone. Now the head coach at Syracuse University,
Marrone played a fundamental role in the late bloom of Jonathan Goodwin’s career.
“I was able to graduate from college, but I still wonder what I’d be doing if I hadn’t have made it,”
Jonathan Goodwin said. “That position change was key for my career and I think it prolonged my career.
It turned me into a better player.”
Following the 2005 season, Goodwin followed Marrone to New Orleans, which was still recovering from
the damage of Hurricane Katrina. But as the city experienced a rebirth, so did Jonathan Goodwin’s
career.
By 2008, he had become the Saints starting center, snapping the ball to Drew Brees and helping direct
one of the most explosive offenses in NFL history. Then came Jonathan Goodwin’s banner year in 2009,
when the Saints won the Super Bowl and he made his first Pro Bowl trip to Hawaii.
Once Jonathan Goodwin signed with the 49ers, he kept his championship ring inside a safe at his locker
at team headquarters. His new teammates asked him for stories and took turns looking at it.
“It’s extremely tough to do, but it’s probably one of the most rewarding feelings you’ll ever have,”
Jonathan Goodwin said of winning the Super Bowl. “It’s one of my most cherished moments and
hopefully we can experience that here.”