Marquise Goodwin SANTA CLARA, CA – NOVEMBER 12: Marquise Goodwin #11 of the San Francisco 49ers breaks a tackle from Janoris Jenkins #20 of the New York Giants on his way to an 83-yard touchdown against the New York Giants during their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium on November 12, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver Marquise Goodwin revealed in an Instagram post after the team’s win over the New York Giants Sunday that he and his wife had lost their infant son at 4 a.m. that morning due to pregnancy complications. Goodwin played that afternoon and scored an 83-yard touchdown, taking an emotional knee in the end zone, which he later explained was about losing his son.

On Tuesday, Goodwin spoke to local reporters about why he decided to play so soon after his son’s death, and said his wife encouraged him to. Here’s Matt Maiocco’s writeup of Goodwin’s remarks from NBC Sports Bay Area:

“Really, it was my wife’s decision,” Goodwin said. “I asked her if she would like me to stay with her and she insisted that I go play in the game because she felt like my team needed me.

“She knows how I feel about the game and what impact I may have on my teammates and the outcome of the games, so it was solely my wife’s decision.”

…“Morgan and I appreciate all the love we’ve gotten,” Goodwin said.

“We do have a lot of people that are following us through our journey. 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.”

Goodwin said the touchdown celebration was a chance for him to show what he was feeling:

“I just felt it was all God in that situation that I was able to score a touchdown and display all the pain that I was feeling at that time. To be able to score a touchdown and ultimately help my team get a win was just a great moment in my life and a moment I’ll remember forever because I could’ve easily not been at the game and that never would’ve happened and nobody would’ve ever known about this story and we wouldn’t be able to help ourselves and help other people along the way. I’m just grateful that I was able to play in the game and get a touchdown.”

It’s good to hear that Goodwin’s wife encouraged him to be there. It certainly would have been understandable if he’d decided not to play and spend time with her instead, but it sounds like he had her full support, and that being around his teammates was helpful for him in the grieving process. Goodwin and his wife both seem to be taking this as well as possible, and it’s interesting that they want to use their own experiences to help others going through tough times. Good for them.

[NBC Sports Bay Area]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.