Buffalo Bills receiver Marquise Goodwin wins silver medal in long jump
TORONTO – Marquise Goodwin spent his offseason from the NFL productively, taking home a silver medal in the long jump at the Pan Am Games on Wednesday night.
The 24-year-old from Lubbock, Tex., is about to enter his third season as a wide receiver with the Buffalo Bills, but with the Pan Am Games taking place before training camp and in nearby Toronto he decided to compete. He finished second only to fellow American Jeffery Henderson.
“I wanted gold, but silver came so I’m grateful,” Goodwin said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity. It’s just my second meet of the year, so to come out with a silver medal is pretty good.”
Long jump isn’t just something Goodwin dabbles in, he is an accomplished track and field athlete and former Olympian. Goodwin was a two-time NCAA long jump champion at Texas, winning in 2010 and 2012. He competed in the 2012 Olympics finishing 10th, though his qualifying jump at U.S. Olympic trials of 8.33-metres would have been good enough for gold in London. In college, he also competed in triple jump and ran both the 100-metres and 200-metres.
Goodwin had not competed in long jump since the Olympics. He was drafted by the Bills in the third round in 2013 and put his track career on hiatus. But recently he decided to pick the sport up again. He competed at the U.S. championships last month and finished fourth, just missing out on the team headed to the world championships in Beijing in August. But his performance was good enough to get him to Toronto for the Pan Am Games, and now he’s leaving with a silver medal.
But don’t expect him to completely quit his day job with the Bills.
“I love long jump. If I’m granted an opportunity without having any repercussions then I would pursue it,” he said. “But obviously I’m obligated to the Buffalo Bills and football. That’s the main focus.”
Goodwin, who has 18 career catches, and three touchdowns, was happy to finish second to Henderson.
“That’s what you want out of your team, you want your team to be successful as well,” he said. “He came out with a gold, he represented USA, and so did I…Team USA.”
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Ian Denomme is an editor and writer for Yahoo Sports. Email him at denomme@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter.
