Good Lands Ed Block Courage Award
by Tom LaMarre
Offensive lineman Denzelle Good of the Las Vegas Raiders was selected winner of the team’s 2019 Ed Block Courage Award, as voted on by his teammates.
Each team in the NFL votes for its own winner of the award, which is given to a player who exemplifies courage and sportsmanship.
Good was selected because of the adversity he’s overcome and the strength he has shown in moving on from the death of his younger brother, Overton, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in October 2018 at his mobile home in Gaffney, S.C.
In addition, Good underwent back surgery last summer and returned to start five games and play in all 16 for the Silver and Black in 2019. The Raiders re-signed Good to a one-year contract extension in January.
The 6-5, 340-pound Good, who can play guard and tackle, was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round (No. 255 overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Mars Hill University in North Carolina.
Good was only the third Mars Hill players ever drafted.
After starting at right guard in 10 games during the 2016 season, Good opened the 2017 season in the starting lineup but played in only five games and spent much of the season on the injured reserve list because of a torn wrist ligament.
In 2018, he was waived by the Colts after playing in only two games and signed a free agent contract with the Raiders, starting the last three games of that season for the Silver and Black in place of injured guard Gabe Jackson.
In his five-year NFL career, Good has started 28 of the 46 games he has played.
