Davon Godchaux
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
MIAMI DOLPHINS
Davon Godchaux is committed to staying engaged in the community this year and has honored that commitment. He is passionate about finding a cure for cancer and is a cancer fighter who is fighting for his older sister, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer earlier this year and recently finished her chemotherapy treatments. It was her battle that prompted him to join the fundraising efforts for the Dolphins Cancer Challenge (DCC). Davon has attended several DCC fundraising events and encouraged potential donors to give. In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Devon pledged to donate $100 for every tackle he made in October. The donations were made in honor of his sister and split between the DCC and his own initiative, the Chauxdown Inc. During the off season, Davon attended the Girls Flag Football Jamboree presented by Nike, a 27-team tournament, where he was impressed with the girls' excitement and passion for playing football. The girls were equally excited by his support and competitive advice. Davon has participated in two team-led community surprises for underserved youth. Hope to Dream sleepover provides 100 beds to youth lacking their own bed to sleep in at night. Additionally, he has participated in the back-to-school shoe shopping spree with His House Children's Home, a residential foster care facility near the stadium.
Davon recognizes the importance of assisting and encouraging foster children in making a choice in what shoe they could purchase which is often the only choice they will have a luxury that most take for granted. Davon's off the field work continues through a partnership with Microsoft for at-risk youth to attend coding workshops to encourage them to learn a new skill. Mentoring is also very important to Davon.
He makes yearly visits to Boys and Girls Club and TruPrep Academy, an all-boys school in Miami Gardens, to mentor youth about making positive choices which is the mission of his foundation. Chauxdown Inc. provides at-risk-youth with programming that supports their education, fitness and overall well-being.
While only in his third year in the league and all as a Dolphin, Davon has steadily increased his community involvement. In his rookie season, Davon participated in the youth football clinic for Special Olympics, campus beautification for AMI Kids, a school for at-risk youth who have been kicked out of school, and a Thanksgiving meal distribution. His experiences in his hometown rookie volunteer events have helped to shape his community objectives. In his second year, Davon formed his own foundation and identified the community needs where he feels he can make the most impact. Davon's foundation provides funding and programming that supports education, fitness and over all well-being for at-risk youth.
In his hometown of Plaquemine, Louisiana, Davon has a mentoring program for teens ages 13-19. The program gives youth the opportunity to engage in tutoring sessions, college visits, and social engagement opportunities that expose them to experiences that our outside of their daily norm providing them unique growth opportunities. For the past two years, Davon hosted back to school, Thanksgiving and Holiday toy drives benefiting at-risk youth in his hometown and he also hosted a youth summer football camp. Davon teamed up with TruPrep Academy to mentor young boys in Miami Gardens, Florida. This year, he added the Boys & Girls Club to his mentoring groups and partnered with Microsoft where he joined several different groups of at-risk youth for a coding workshop. The children learned how to code using SpaceCast! and Davon was there to engage with the kids and reinforce the need to make positive life choices.
In addition to team-led community events, Davon has several events that he will host throughout the season which includes Thanksgiving turkeys and holiday toys distributions in his hometown and in South Florida. He also mentors a youth football player at Miami Carol City High School and attends his games when available. Lastly, Davon participated in the Play 60 Virtual Field Trip filming for Super Bowl this year.
