San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin credited his wife for giving him the emotional strength to play in Sunday's game against the New York Giants just hours after the birth of his still-born son.
Speaking to NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano on Up to the Minute Live, Goodwin discussed the mix of emotions he experienced during the game and the strength his wife, Morgan, showed following the tragedy.
"It was definitely her decision for me to go," Goodwin said Wednesday. "I gave her the option: Did she want me to go to the game or stay at the hospital with her? And she insisted that I go and play with my team and get a victory. So it was very selfless of her to allow me go and do something like that.
"... Her insisting that I go and do something else instead of being by her side at a time when she needed me most, [it] speaks volumes about her character. A lot less about me and more about her. Her resiliency and her willingness to be so selfless and allow me to go and do my job -- words really can't explain."
Goodwin scored on an 83-yard touchdown pass during the 49ers' 31-21 victory -- the team's first win of the season -- and said the touchdown helped him realize how much he had to be thankful for, even in the wake of such a devastating personal loss.
"When I was on my knees, I was just thanking God for the opportunity, thanking him for allowing me to showcase my sentiments on the situation," said Goodwin, who blew a kiss to the sky and fell to his knees after the touchdown. "Being able to show that even through tough situations you can still make it through with your faith and prayer, and giving God his due glory regardless of the circumstances you're in."
Goodwin, who said he didn't tell his teammates of his son's death until after the game, thanked the 49ers for helping him and his family get through the loss of his son. He said their support over the last few days has helped him tremendously.
"Just having a great support system with my teammates, my coaches, my organization -- from ownership all the way down -- it speaks volumes about this organization," Goodwin said. "It's more than just football. This is a family, win, lose or draw.
"You never think that situations like these will happen to you. This is something that I wanted, that my wife has wanted, since we've been together, since we got married. To have that taken away, it was a very emotional situation, something that we've never dealt with, we didn't know how to handle at the time. So it's something we take day by day. But our faith in God has helped alleviate a lot of that stress and pressure that we felt that day."
