New York Giants LB B.J. Goodson Is Ready to Begin NFL Journey

New York Giants rookie linebacker B.J. Goodson has a message he’d like to send to Giants fans.

“I definitely want Giants nation to know that they have another everyday hard-hat worker coming into the business and someone who is going to represent the brand the right way," he said.

“That’s my identity. At the end of the day, all I can do is be myself, so they can definitely look forward to some hard hitting.”

Those aren’t simply words from a wide-eyed rookie who starting Monday will get a chance to compete as part of a crowded field at middle linebacker for his slice of the pie.

No, the former Clemson linebacker, whom the Giants selected in the fourth round of the draft, is already showing some of the qualities that Giants fans of today long for from the Big Blue linebackers.

If you fondly remember the days of the “Crunch Bunch” (Lawrence Taylor, Brad Van Pelt, Brian Kelley and Harry Carson), you’re going to love what the 22-year-old Goodson plans to bring to the table.

The Foundation

According to CityPopulation, the town of Lamar, South Carolina, is home to a population of less than 1,000 as of the April 2010 census. At 1.2 square miles, the city, which boasts one traffic light, is smaller than New York’s Central Park.

For as tiny of a town as Lamar is, it’s also a town that is mostly rich in athletics, a town where children become involved in multiple sports to help supplement their daily activities. 

In Goodson’s case, his first love while growing up was basketball, a game in which he played power forward and shooting guard.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

That love of hoops came from his parents, Billy, a factory worker, and Deirdre, a supervisor for Florence County’s Department of Corrections, who had played basketball as youths. 

However, when it came time to choose a college, rather than pursue his first love, Goodson ultimately chose to begin a new journey down a different road. 

“Growing up, I had played AAU basketball just about all my life until high school when I started to get experience with football,” Goodson told Bleacher Report. “I was a pretty good basketball athlete, but I only had one scholarship offer for basketball.”

Football, however, was another story. With several offers to play college football, Goodson took the hint.

Goodson remembers the day he was recruited by Clemson University, the first school to come courting him and the one he ultimately went with. 

“When [former Clemson defensive coordinator] Kevin Steele stepped foot on Lamar High School’s grounds to talk to me, I decided then that [Clemson] was where I wanted to go,” Goodson said.

The Birth of a Linebacker

It takes a special kind of personality to play the role of linebacker in the game of football, regardless of the competition level.

Some of the greatest NFL linebackers—Taylor, Jack Ham, Junior Seau, Dick Butkus and Sam Huff, just to name a few—are well-known not just for their play, but for their ability to instill fear in their opponents.

They’re the gruff type who, once they step on to the gridiron, replace words with grunts, whose icy stares would make the worst that cold-weather cities like Green Bay and Minneapolis have to offer seem like the tropics. And they thrive on dishing out the punishment to those who dare to cross their paths.

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That demeanor is one that Goodson has been developing ever since he was a 10-year-old boy and first laced up his cleats and strapped on his helmet to participate in a recreation league.

“At a young age, you see a lot of the flash on TV, so you want to be a part of the flash, but Coach Williams definitely showed me what the position could bring, so I’ve been in love with it ever since," Goodson said.

“When I think of a linebacker, I think of a guy who is passionate about his job and passionate about life period," he continued.

“You very rarely find a linebacker who isn’t passionate about something. I love what the position is all about.”

The Meaning of Life

When Goodson arrived at Clemson, he not only got a chance to work on his skill set, he also learned a valuable lesson from head coach Dabo Swinney regarding the life skills that he would need to be successful both during and after his football career.

“Coach Swinney always told us that football is a game that teaches you about life,” Goodson said. “A lot of sports these days don’t really teach you about life like how football teaches you.”

Such as?

“I definitely know that I’ve learned a lot about life through the game of football—principles, respecting the game,” he said. “If you don’t’ respect the game, then you’ll get exposed, and that’s just like dealing with life; if you don’t do the right thing, you’ll get exposed.”

From the Bottom Up

Another valuable lesson Goodson learned is that everything in life must be earned, and to earn what one wants, one has to work for it.

That’s a lesson he learned in part from a couple of former NFL stars, linebacker Levon Kirkland, who also hails from Lamar, South Carolina, and former safety Michael Hamlin, both of whom Goodson said he’s extremely close with.

They’re also two guys who Goodson said have inspired him to represent everything from his hometown, to his college, to the name on the back of his jersey “with class and great dignity, the right way” while staying humble.

As part of being humble, Goodson had to work his way up the ladder at Clemson. According to his Tigers player bio, he redshirted in 2011 before going on to play in just 55 defensive snaps over the next two seasons, seasons in which he was primarily a special teams contributor.

Norm Hall/Getty Images

In 2014, Goodson recorded 34 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, three quarterback pressures, two pass breakups, three recovered fumbles and a 24-yard fumble return in 256 snaps over 12 games, six of which were starts at outside linebacker.

He also finished tied for 10th in the nation in recovered fumbles and tied for second in the ACC in recovered fumbles in 2014.

After inside linebacker Stephone Anthony declared for the draft after the 2014 season, the 6’1”, 250-pound Goodson inherited the starting middle linebacker job.

The position turned out to be the perfect fit for Goodson’s skill set and temperament.

“You have to be able to do everything; you have to be able to orchestrate your defense and be that leader,” Goodson said. “I enjoy being the quarterback of the defense. That’s the first position I started on defense, so that’s what I am at heart."

He was also voted a team captain.

“It’s a great thing to be that on the defense because you have a lot of guys who look up to you and who look to you for that accountability. It’s really, as far as respect, up there on the food chain.”

It certainly didn't hurt that Goodson produced on the gridiron. According to Pro Football Focus, Goodson finished last season with 109 total tackles, 62 stops for zero or negative yardage while recording a respectable 80.5 rating in coverage.

When it was all said and done, Goodson’s college career took time but was one that ended up a success.

“Being humble has always been a very big part of my character,” he said of having to work his way up the ladder.

“The process definitely prepared me for what’s to come and showed me how to work hard and how to not be outworked and how to be obsessed about your job. So I’m thankful for that experience.”

The Next Chapter

As one of the newest members of the Giants, Goodson finds himself in that all-too-familiar role of having to start over to prove his worth.

While the team has yet to release any kind of depth chart, official or unofficial, rookies usually start out on the bottom regardless of where they are drafted.

In Goodson’s case, he comes into a rather crowded situation where he’ll try to unseat one of Jasper Brinkley, Keenan Robinson, Mark Herzlich and Kelvin Sheppard for defensive snaps.

Tyler Smith/Getty Images

Pressure? Not for the rookie, who is eyeballing the big picture and who is happily accepting whatever tips his veteran teammates are willing to share.

“It’s been a great experience,” he said of his time so far with the Giants. “I’m definitely trying to get the playbook down.

“I’m not really looking too far ahead into the future; my thing is I want to put my best foot forward and be able to live with the results. So whatever that might be—helping out on special teams or being a part of certain sub packages or coming on to give a guy a breather, I’m willing and ready to play that part.”

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirerand Sports Xchange. All quotes for this article were obtained firsthand.

Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.