Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin Jr. Talks to SI About Winning 2025 Octopus of the Year

So you and Emeka Abuka both had an octopus this season, and there was a great moment where you celebrated together.

I was hoping to give our official Octopus of the Year award to both of you.

I hope you're cool with accepting on behalf of both you and Emeka together.

Oh yeah, definitely.

I'm, I'm sure, I'll, I'm sure he'll be fine with that.

I'll, I'll let him know when we're done here.

So yours was on a primetime game, Thursday Night Football against the Falcons.

Could you tell me what do you remember about that drive?

Um, I mean, honestly, it was, it was a bit of a blur.

I know like it was a tough game for us, like we were coming like off of a, of a tough slid, uh, in, in the season, but uh it was a divisional game and we're trying to like make a push for the playoffs, um, and I think if I remember correctly, we scored to go up by 2 by 2 touchdowns at that point, uh, which is obviously a big moment and Uh, just being able to score like at home is a is a blessing and like obviously your crowds around you, but uh, in a, in a divisional game, it's always even better.

Yeah, so I went back and watched the plays, um, on the touchdown you were lined up on the left, on the inside, you caught both balls like.

Practically in the same spot in the end zone on like the A in Tampa, and then on the uh on the two pointer you were on the right and uh went across the line on those plays, do you have to get to a specific spot or is there a little freedom like depending on the coverage, just find a way to get open in the end zone?

Uh, you're typically like trying to work to a specific like area on the field.

Um, it's like you, you have like a little bit of flexibility, right?

Like you're not just like running the lines on the paper, like, but the quarterback does expect you to be in a general area like on the first and I'm pretty sure I have like a corner route.

Um, and so I was just kind of like selling like a fake block and then pop over to the corner and like you have the ability to run it towards like the pylon, or if the coverage is is ahead of you, then the quarterback can kind of throw it on your back shoulder, um, which he did it like on, on that play, so kind of stopped one up and and grabbed it, um, and then the other one, I was just working across the field, and obviously it's it's a two point conversion, so the field is condensed, which can make things a lot more difficult to throw the ball cause there's very little space to actually like throw the ball.

Um, and so it was, it was pretty weird.

Like I do remember noticing that it was pretty much in the exact same spot.

Yeah, do you like, uh, lining up at the goal line when the field is condensed, or do you have more fun as a receiver when there's more room to run out there?

I think you, you enjoy it more when there's more space to run, like things are a little bit uh like more open, and you have like, it's, it's a little bit easier to, to navigate that, uh, cause when you're that low, like in the red zone.

Defenders, they can kind of just like just bump you in and knock you off your track because like you're within the 5 yard kind of like bump rule, and so it does make it more difficult, but the, the upside is that whenever you make the catch, your odds are you're probably gonna be in the end zone.

Yeah , sure, sometimes twice on back to back plays, bingo, bingo, um, so the big question that I've been wondering, the, the play happens that on the broadcast we see you and Emeka coming together and somebody yells octopus.

I think you've seen the clip.

It looks like it's him, but I wasn't sure if it might be you.

Do you know who was yelling in that moment?

Yeah, I, I do.

It was, it was Emecca.

Yeah, I, I definitely, I remember him saying it because in the moment like you're just, I was just gassed up that that we got the two point conversion.

I wasn't even thinking.

That, uh, that it was an octopus, but he came up and he was hyped.

He was like, he's octopus.

I was like, uh-huh.

So that's, that's what I wanted to ask because, uh, usually when I do these interviews, I ask people like, had you ever heard of it before?

And a lot of times the answer is no.

For you guys, we know that you had because the Bucks social team put out the fun video, uh, when they were asking you about it and it looked like that was everybody hearing it for the first time.

So I was wondering.

Like when that's posted, are you guys watching back all those videos and seeing the, the fun stuff your team is posting?

I'm wondering if anyone like brought up the octopus again in the, it was like a month or so in between when that video went out and then when you had another one.

And that like it makes its way back to you at some point.

Like our social team, they do a great job of like bringing things like back to your attention, um, so yeah, like it was brought up to me again, but the first time that I had, I had heard about it the year before, but you just kind of like forget about it because it's so rare to happen in football like.

It's like to be in a position where you need where you need a two point conversion, and then for the person that made the touchdown to also make the two point is, it's crazy.

So when, when Matt got it the first time in Seattle, like it was like a it was a huge deal.

Like we were like, oh this is sick, and then for it to happen again later in the year, it's like, I'd be curious to see how many teams have had two octopus in one year.

Like I'm sure it's not that many, not a ton.

I will say Mark Andrews and Todd Gurley have both had 2 in one game before, and 2 in one game.

Yeah, that's crazy.

That was, I talked, I gave Mark Andrews my award a few years ago.

They were down 16 on Monday night, and he had all 16 points.

No, that's sick.

That's a, that, that's a great game.

That's, that's a phenomenal game.

So I was gonna ask, I, I think you answered my question.

I was gonna ask if you were thinking about it lining up.

Clearly Emeka was, but it sounds like you were not thinking about it until after it happened.

Not at all, yeah.

Um, all right, so another fun coincidence is that both of you had them wearing the creamsicles, and I think the fans love those jerseys.

Do you guys like wearing those?

Is it more fun being out there in those uniforms?

Yeah, we, we really enjoyed the creamsicle jerseys.

They're so like aesthetically pleasing.

Um, the white ones are like we wore them for the first time last year , and those ones are like a 16, and the and the, the home ones that are just as nice, right?

Like we've, we've been really, really pleased about.

I think players is like a switch up, but I think in terms of like historical jerseys, like classic jerseys, like that's gotta be up there towards the top with some of the best in the league.

Yeah, so I, I didn't know if, uh, how often you're watching your own highlights, or I guess you watch a lot of film, you might be thinking, oh, those look good.

I'm glad I did it in those unis, that looks sweet.

Yeah, yeah, it, it makes for a good picture, like maybe I'll, I'll show my son one day.

Well, the other thing I wanted to know, we saw the video with the wide receivers.

Does Baker know about the octopus, or do you think uh he's his mind's elsewhere in those situations?

I think in the moment his mind is elsewhere, like he's just trying to like execute the play to like the best of his ability, but afterwards I'm sure like he like he knows about like he's like he he's he's on all of that kind of stuff, like he's he's a smart player, but he also was like socially like aware like he knows what's going on, so I'm sure it's a nice little like uh little little uh thing thing for him as well.

Yeah, because now that you guys definitely know about it, I was wondering, you know, he seems, I know he's very serious about winning, but he also seems like he likes to have a good time out there.

And so, um, if you score a touchdown and in the huddle, you're like, Hey man, I'd love an octopus here.

How do you think Baker would react on the field in that moment?

On the field, I think he, I think he would react pretty good.

He'd be like, I got you.

Like, but obviously like he's not gonna do something dumb just to try to get the octopus.

Like if, if the play works out, then it works out, but Um, but he like he's a, he's, he's a good sport with all that kind of stuff.

All right, so I told you about, uh, Mark Andrews and Todd Curley.

I wanna ask you, if you had a chance to break an NFL record, which of these records would you most want?

22 catches in a game, 337 yards in a game, or 3 octopi in a game.

Oh, man.

Wow, that's a great question.

Um, so the 22 catches or 337 yards.

Oh, yeah, that's so many.

Who did that?

Do you know who did that?

Flipper Anderson, that record has stood for a long time.

Wow, I would say that one or.

Or the octo or the 3 octopi.

I would say the yards because I'm not familiar with Flipper Anderson.

So it's, so it's, it's that work has been going on for so long and like odds are if you, if as a receiver, if you've had 300 yards, then it's like your team is doing really well.

You're like really been down a lot or your team is doing really well.

I think I'm, I'd rather do 3 octopi because that's 24 points, 24 points as a like as an individual player.

And it's like if surely somebody else on the team has scored at some point, so like you got, you got a good chance of winning that game.

I'll take that one.

All right, I thought you were gonna say yards.

I think you're playing in the crowd a little bit, uh, you're giving me what I want to hear.

We appreciate it, but I did.

I, the yards was my, was my first inclination.

But when I, cause like you could have 300 yards and have no touchdowns, right?

And In theory, like you might be like helping your team cause you're having getting a lot of yards, but like you could have a lot of yards if your team has been down by 21 points in the first half, and now you're throwing the ball, right?

But if you score 3 touchdowns and you get 3 extra like that again, 24 points, like that's directly contributing to winning, so I, I think I picked that one.

So I want to ask a little about the, uh, the wide receiver room, and, uh, you and Mike Evans were teammates for a really long time.

What was it like seeing him leave and now you being the longest tenured guy.

In that room, um, how is that different this season?

It's definitely been strange that he's, uh, like watching him leave, um, but it's like, I mean, it's just like anything else, like it's the nature of the business, like, like guys will like be in one place for a while and then like they need to change or like something happens like or they get traded and, and it's the nature of the business.

So like definitely like it was sad to see him go because we've played together for so long and that's my brother, but like I also I want him to, to be happy as well, and it's like if that's what he wanted to do, then like he's like he has just like earned the right to do that, um.

But also it's been strange being one of the like older guys on the team now, like with him leaving and Lavonte retiring, it's like I'm, I'm the longest tenure book and I'm like one of the older guys in in the like on the team, but I feel, I still feel like I'm in my twenties like mentally and like physically I just, so it's, it's a bit strange, but it's um we got, we got a large influx of young guys and like on the team and they bring such great energy, especially like in the receiver room.

It's You know, it's me, and I'm, I'm in year 10, and then David Sales, I think is you like 7, but outside of that, everyone is year 3 or or younger, so a bunch of young guys, but a bunch of like highly talented guys that are just like eager to prove themselves.

Yeah, so Ameka, your co-winner, how much better do you think he can be in his second season?

I think the sky is the limit for Mac.

He's such a smart player, but he also like he like he understands ball, he works hard, uh, like a great teammate, just like everything that you would want in a in a receiver, I think like he encapsulates that.

Um, so I, I think the sky is the limit for him and his 2nd year and beyond.

Yeah, so I know you have a few talented guys in the room, but with him in particular, does it feel a little bit like when, uh, when Mike was there and then you came in, and now you're on the other side of it, where you're a veteran guy and a younger player, highly touted comes in.

Does it, does it feel like a similar kind of thing just being on the other side of it now?

I would say like in some ways, yeah, like, only difference is like when I got here, Mike was in year 3, so like, we were both like relatively young, like he was, he was already like well established at that point, but like, uh, I think.

Yeah, it's so it's always similar like in the way, but again it's just like a little bit different.

All right, one question about your season, I know you talked about it, and I, I know unfortunately that Atlanta game had a tough ending for you after the, the big play, but the season starts 6 and 2, ends 8 and 9.

Is the mindset now like, oh, we just have to play better one game at a time, or are there like bigger lessons you learned from down the stretch last season that can help this year?

Yeah, I mean, the, the mentality is always playing one game at a time, but it's like some things you.

Like are out of your control, like when injuries pile up, like that's, that's not in your control, and like it has a large impact on your team's ability to win, like it makes it more difficult.

Um, so like that's it's like the teams that end up winning in the end are typically the healthiest teams, but you also have to like understand how like it's difficult to win in this league, and you can't shoot yourself in the foot, so to say, like and make all these like um like unforced errors or mistakes that you know that you shouldn't be making.

If you want to be a good team, and when you're able to do that and put those things together and like stack games consecutively, that that's when you can prove that you're a good team over the course of the year, not just the first half of the season, because It's like we want to be fighting for like for a championship, so we have to be able to do it throughout the course of the entire season.

All right, final question for you.

This is an awards column.

Let's pretend we're at an awards ceremony.

I called your name.

You're coming up on stage to the microphone for you and Ameca co-winners.

I'm gonna just clear the floor and let you give a victory speech as this year's Octopus of the Year award winners.

Yeah, I mean, shoot, we are, we are both grateful for it.

Like it's, it's, it's awesome to be in a position to be able to.

Uh, to not only like score touches for your team, but also to be able to do something like this, which is like something very rare and like, like being able to get an octopus.

So what we're grateful for, grateful for our teammates, uh, who obviously like they, they help us a ton, right ?

Like we don't do this without them.

Um, so it's, it's a cool award, but we're looking, we're looking to do, do many, many great, great things as well.