Wide reciver’s day of grief and glory

As Marquise Goodwin completed an 83-yard touchdown catch Sunday, he blew a kiss to the sky with his left hand, then dropped to his right knee in the end zone before falling to the turf, overcome with emotion as teammates surrounded him.

On the sideline, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wasn’t surprised by Goodwin’s reaction: Hours earlier, he had tried to console the grief-stricken wide receiver.

“I knew,” Shanahan said, “that he was going to be in that end zone for a while.”

On Sunday, Goodwin, 26, took the field about nine hours after his wife, Morgan, had to deliver their stillborn son at 19 weeks. After wrestling with the decision to play, Goodwin caught the eighth-longest pass in franchise history, had an 18-yard run and delivered a crunching block that sprang tight end Garrett Celek for a 47-yard touchdown reception in a 31-21 win over the Giants.

Goodwin left the team hotel late Saturday night when Morgan was having complications. Then, after saying goodbye to his son, who died at 3:52 a.m., he returned hours later to the team facility and met with a group that included Shanahan and team pastor Earl Smith.

“I know Marquise was hurting bad,” Shanahan said. “Real bad. And I know he will for a while, and I know his wife will, too.” Shanahan said that when Goodwin arrrived at the facility, “I don’t know how sure he was right away” about playing.

On Monday, Morgan Goodwin told People magazine that she had dealt with complications for about a week before she was taken by ambulance to the hospital hours before the birth. She and Marquise held their son, whom they named Marquise Jr., for as long as they were allowed.

“I felt joy in holding my baby even though it was a sad moment,” Morgan told People. “I was so amazed. His eyes were still shut at this point, but the hands, the feet. He looked exactly like his daddy.”

Goodwin and Morgan, who each ran track at the University of Texas, were married last year. On Sunday, after enduring their most devastating moment together, Goodwin said he couldn’t leave her, but Morgan encouraged him to play.

“I think he did a hell of a job for his wife yesterday, being there for her, and helped out his family from that aspect,” Shanahan said. “And (he) also helped out his family here, too. I think he helped out every side, and was pretty impressive.”

Goodwin, who left soon after the game to return to the hospital, played through his sorrow. However, he found moments of refuge on the field, even after his blindside block on Celek’s touchdown left him on his knees.

“He got the wind knocked out of him,” Shanahan said. “I thought he was hurt until I saw him smiling on the ground, trying to breathe. But it was pretty neat. Very happy for him. And I think you guys can see the whole team was, too.”

Morgan didn’t regret her decision to push her husband to play. And she shared his emotion after he crumpled to the turf following his first touchdown of the season.

“It was very, very emotional watching him out there,” she said to People. “Seeing him score the touchdown and watching him get emotional after the game, I was crying. It was an amazing moment, but it was also a very sad moment.”

Safety likely sidelined: Shanahan said rookie safety Adrian Colbert will need surgery for a broken thumb he sustained early in the first quarter Sunday and could miss the 49ers’ Nov. 26 game against Seattle after the bye week.

“Feel pretty good about him after that,” said Shanahan, who indicated Colbert would play with a cast.

In his first NFL start, Colbert, a seventh-round pick, played all 66 defensive snaps Sunday and flashed his speed to make two pass breakups along the sideline.

The 49ers already have placed safeties Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt on injured reserve with broken forearms. Shanahan indicated Antone Exum, who was signed last Tuesday, would replace Colbert in the starting lineup if he can’t play against the Seahawks.

In other injury news, running back Raheem Mostert (shoulder) is expected to play against Seattle.