Father Figure : UCLA’s Goodwin Had to Grow Up Fast After His Son Was Born Before His Senior Year of High School

UCLA safety Marvin Goodwin’s life changed after the birth of his son, Marvin III, three years ago.

“It helped me mature quickly,” Goodwin said. “Usually I’d just hang out on the corner or in the park with my friends. But once he was born, my friends didn’t see me anymore.”

Goodwin was 17 when his girlfriend, Robin Walls, gave birth in the summer before Goodwin’s senior year at Wilson High in Camden, N.J. He took two jobs to support his son, working as a janitor at a nursing home and cooking at a fast food restaurant, and considered skipping his final year of high school football to work full time.

But Goodwin’s mother, Josiah, told her son not to throw away his future.

“He was going to give it all up,” she said. “But when football practice started he had to stop (working). I told him that he had to think about his future.

“His education was more important because you can do more in four years if you go on and get your education than if you go on for the rest of your life mopping floors with a high school education. But he was very determined that he was going to take care of his son.”

One of the best defensive backs in the Pacific 10, Goodwin might be able to support his son by playing in the NFL after he leaves UCLA.

Mel Kiper, NFL draft analyst, said Goodwin has a shot.

“He looks like a good prospect,” Kiper said. “He’s a good athlete and a good tackler and he seems to be pretty aggressive because he’s around the ball a lot.”

A redshirt sophomore, Goodwin has developed into one of UCLA’s best defensive backs after stepping into the starting free safety spot vacated by Matt Darby, who now plays for the Buffalo Bills. UCLA’s second leading tackler, Goodwin has three sacks. He made a game-saving interception in the end zone to preserve UCLA’s 17-10 victory over Brigham Young this season.

“Marvin’s had a good year,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said. “He’s really improved over a year ago. He’s much more confident and much more aggressive and I think overall he’s played very, very steadily this season. I’d say he’s one of the more improved players on our football team.

“I think he has the capabilities in the future of being in (Darby’s) category. Matt was a little more gifted in (run defense) and Marvin’s a little more gifted in pass defense.

“When you lose a guy like Darby, you wonder if you’re going to be able to fill the position adequately, and I really think that Marvin has stepped in and done a good job.”

Although Goodwin sees his son only when he visits home, his son watches him play on TV.

“When a game is on TV, I’ll call him the next day and he’ll tell me that he saw me on TV,” Goodwin said. “He knows that I play football because of all the trophies I have back home.”

Goodwin, 6 feet 1/2 inch and 194 pounds, earned the trophies during his career at Wilson High, where he was all-state in 1989. A tailback/safety, Goodwin had 1,569 yards in total offense and scored 28 touchdowns as a senior. He also made 60 tackles, including seven sacks, and had eight interceptions.

Goodwin chose UCLA over Ohio State because he thought an Ohio State recruiter, desperate to prevent him from going to UCLA, insulted his mother by saying she couldn’t afford to fly him back from Los Angeles for visits home.

“I was going to go to Ohio State, but on the signing day they called my house and said some bad things to my mother,” Goodwin said. “I guess they felt they’d lost me and they said because I came from a bad neighborhood that she couldn’t afford to pay for plane tickets home. My mother didn’t really appreciate it, so that swayed my decision to come out here.”

After redshirting in 1990, Goodwin was used in UCLA’s nickel defense last season, making 18 tackles. He intercepted a pass against Washington State and sacked Drew Bledsoe in the Bruins’ victory over the Cougars last season.

Goodwin comes from a football family.

Goodwin’s older brother, Duer Sharp, played linebacker at Wisconsin. After completing his athletic eligibility last season, Sharp returned to school to get his degree because he failed to make it with an NFL team.

Goodwin, who idolized his brother, said Sharp helped him stay off Camden’s mean streets.

“A couple of my friends are in jail and some of them are doing the same things, selling drugs on the streets,” Goodwin said. “When I was coming up I wanted to stay up late nights and hang out, but I found out that there’s more to life than just being out there on the streets and making fast money.

“When I started playing football, it wasn’t all that much fun. But my brother was three years older than me and once I saw all the attention that he was getting (playing football) and how he was being recruited, I said to myself that I wanted to be like him.”