Dwayne Goodrich

Dwayne Lewis Goodrich (born May 29, 1978) is a former professional American football cornerback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Tennessee.

Early years

Goodrich came to Tennessee from Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn. He was an All-American at defensive back, while also running track. He was a three-year starter for the Vols, earning a spot as captain during his senior season in 1999. Goodrich became noteworthy after the 1999 Fiesta Bowl. He was assigned to cover Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick. In the second quarter of that game, Goodrich intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. The play helped Tennessee win the game and the national championship. Goodrich was the defensive MVP of the game. As a senior he had 34 tackles, 3 interceptions, 6 passes defensed and received All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors.

Professional career

The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2000 NFL Draft without a first-round pick because of the trade that sent two first round choices to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for Joey Galloway. The team also made cornerback a top draft priority, after considering the imminent departure of Deion Sanders and the injury history of Kevin Smith and Kevin Mathis.

The Cowboys selected Goodrich in the second round (49th overall) after he dropped because of a poor senior season,^[1] which would be the first of their three cornerbacks selections (Kareem Larrimore and Mario Edwards were the other two).

As a rookie, Goodrich suffered a strained left hamstring in training camp, that put him so far behind that he didn't make his professional debut until the month of November. In 2001, he suffered a torn right achilles tendon in training camp and was placed on the injured reserve list on August 28. In 2002, he was mostly a reserve player and got a chance to start in his first NFL game.

On February 20, 2003, he was waived after he was involved in a hit and run accident that killed two people. In three seasons, he started in only one game and had no interceptions.

Legal issues

On January 14, 2003, Goodrich was involved in a hit and run accident that killed two people. On January 15, he was arrested on charges of vehicular manslaughter in relation to the accident. Police believed that Goodrich struck and killed two motorists who were trying to rescue a man from a burning car on a North Dallas freeway.^[2] Though witnesses claimed Goodrich was going 100 mph, the state's accident reconstruction expert at trial estimated that Goodrich's car struck the victims and driver door of the wreckage at a considerably lower speed of 54 mph.

On September 8, 2003 he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and fined $20,000 for the accident. He was convicted on two counts of criminally negligent homicide.

On January 9, 2006, prosecutors and relatives of the deceased victims successfully sought to add five years to his original 7 ½-year prison sentence. In court proceedings on January 9, 2006, in Dallas, the sole surviving victim of the January 2003 accident, Shuki Josef, requested permission to approach Goodrich to shake his hand. The gesture resulted in an emotion-filled embrace between the two men as Josef stated that he forgave Goodrich.

During trial, Goodrich was not proven to have been intoxicated at the time of the incident. Goodrich lost his brother Walter to a motorcycle accident in 2004. He was released from prison on October 5, 2011, after serving 8 years due to his conviction of two counts of criminally negligent homicide.^[3]

References

External links

• Dwayne Goodrich bio
• Defining moment
• Former Dallas Cowboy recalls tragic mistake that ended his career
• Dwayne Goodrich back with message