Meet the Delaware Athlete of the Year. He recovered from injury and had a big NFL season.
A year ago this month, Chris Godwin was beginning the painstaking process of rehabbing his surgically repaired right knee.
It cast a cloud of concern over the Middletown High graduate's 2022 season, as he'd become one of Tom Brady's most reliable pass targets with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
As it turned out, Godwin was the productive slot receiver he'd always been, and the Delaware Sportswriters & Broadcasters Association recognized that achievement Monday.
Godwin was named Delaware's 2022 Athlete of the Year, becoming the 74th recipient of the DSBA's John J. Brady Award.
Godwin, who’ll turn 27 on Feb. 27, was one of five award recipients honored at Wilmington's Riverfront Events, located at the Hyatt, though he could not attend. In a video, Godwin said "it really is an honor to be among the long list of decorated athletes who have garnered this recognition," and that his Delaware roots have played a key role in his NFL success.
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It was a rewarding bounce-back campaign as Godwin’s 2021 season ended in a Week 15 loss to the Saints when he tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee. He had reconstructive surgery Jan. 3.
Godwin was back on the field for Tampa Bay in its 2022 opener, then missed two games with hamstring troubles before returning to help spark the Bucs to the NFC South title.
In his sixth NFL season, all with Tampa Bay, Godwin had a career-high 104 catches in 2022. He gained 1,023 yards and scored three touchdowns.
“This past year I was met with a lot of adversity," Godwin said. " … Being able to overcome that and to get back to the point where I’m playing high-level football was very gratifying for me. And to get an award like this is such an honor."
Godwin now has 446 receptions for 5,666 yards, both No. 2 in Bucs history, and 32 touchdowns in his NFL career. He was a Pro Bowl pick after the 2019 season and won the Super Bowl after the 2020 season.
The Bucs chose Godwin in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft, 84th overall, out of Penn State, where he caught 154 passes for 2,421 yards and 18 touchdowns in three seasons.
“Just happy for him and proud of him to get back to this point,” Brady told Buccaneers.com of Godwin during the 2022 season. “I think it’s a very tough injury to go through, ACL reconstruction, and really a contact one like that. It’s a lot of physical rehab. I think there's a lot of mental rehab to go through as well. And I can just tell his confidence in how he’s feeling.
“He does so much for us when he’s out there. The guy’s a winner, he’s a clutch player, he comes up big in every moment.”
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Appoquinimink senior All-State soccer player T.J. Hastings, who copes with Type 1 diabetes, took home the Buddy Hurlock Unsung Hero Award. It remembers The News Journal sportswriter who died of a brain tumor at age 40 in 2012 and identifies those who have coped with adversity while setting an example for others.
Lewes resident Tim Bamforth was presented the Herm Reitzes Award in recognition of sports-related community service. Bamforth is the longtime director of the Delaware Seashore Striders. Founded in 1990, the Striders operate roughly 50 annual running events in the Lewes and Rehoboth Beach areas but also throughout Sussex County and nearby Maryland. Last year they involved 15,000 participants and raised more than $300,00 for various nonprofits, scholarship funds and needy families.
Wilmington Friends Class 2A state football champions earned the 2022 Team of the Year award. The Quakers went 13-0 and topped Caravel 10-7 in the Class 2A title game, their first state championship since winning the Division II title in 1984.
Coach Rob Tattersall credited all 33 players on the team because "every last kid knows their job, they know their role and they do it well."
The Tubby Raymond Award as Delaware Coach of the Year went to Kristin Caldwell, who guided Caravel Academy to the state girls basketball championship before stepping down and is now coaching the Bucs’ baseball team.
"The team was perfect," Caldwell said of her state champs, "because everyone knew where they fit. … Everyone embraced their role and everybody was important and took ownership in everything we did. These girls took ownership and gave the Caravel community one of the best nights it's ever had."
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Tampa Bay Bucs Chris Godwin 2022 Delaware Athlete of the Year
