Goodwin targets Tokyo Games in pursuit of Olympic dream
Marquise Goodwin plans to jump back into track and field.
The 49ers’ wide receiver said Tuesday he will try to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the long jump. Goodwin, 28, was a two-time NCAA champion at Texas, has won two national titles and finished 10th at the 2012 London Olympics, which he entered as medal contender.
Goodwin, who hasn’t competed in track for three years, said his return wouldn’t interfere with his NFL career. He also competed in track in 2015 and 2016 when he played for the Bills. He finished seventh at the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials and failed to qualify the Rio de Janeiro Games.
“It’s just offseason,” Goodwin said. “... It’s all on my off time. I use it as part of my training. What I do in long jump — track and field — definitely correlates to what I do as a wide receiver. Being fast. Being explosive. Putting my foot down. It’s the same mechanics that I use in football.”
The 2020 U.S. Olympics trials in Eugene, Ore., will run June 19-28, when the 49ers are off before training camp. Goodwin would miss part of training camp if he qualified for the Tokyo Games, which begin in late July.
In 2017, a few months after he signed with the 49ers, Goodwin and the 49ers each said in statements that he was focused fully on football. They made those statements after Goodwin was suspended for one year by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for failing to provide his whereabouts for drug testing.
Goodwin said he didn’t submit his “whereabouts” information because he’d “decided to cease competing in (track) in order to concentrate 100 percent on my NFL career.”
Said the 49ers: “Marquise informed our organization quite some time ago that he has no intentions of competing in track and field and has been entirely focused on his football career for more than a year.”
It’s not known how the 49ers feel about Goodwin’s change of heart.
Last year, they signed him to a three-year, $18.85 million extension after he had a breakout 56-catch, 962-yard season in 2017 and he was viewed as the team’s top wide receiver entering the 2018 season. However, Goodwin had just 23 catches for 395 yards in 11 games last year, and head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke openly near the end of the season about him playing fewer snaps this season.
On Tuesday, Shanahan suggested the 49ers planned to use Goodwin in a more specialized role that would showcase his elite speed.
“He’s had to play a lot more than you would like,” Shanahan said. “He’s had to do some routes a lot more than you would like. He’s capable of doing them all. But you want to put people on what they’re best at.”
The 49ers have drafted three wide receivers — Dante Pettis, Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd — in the first three rounds since 2018. Those additions could make Goodwin a part-time player.
“Of course, I’m going to do anything (Shanahan) says,” Goodwin said. “I’m not going against it; I’m not going against the grain. If he doesn’t want me in there every down, that’s what it is. If he does, that’s what it is. I’m here to help the 49ers. I’m not here for Marquise Goodwin’s ego.”
The 49ers hope fewer snaps could keep Goodwin healthier. He has missed 28 games because of injuries in his six-year career, and his medical file includes an extensive concussion history; Goodwin has been placed in the concussion protocol six times since 2014. Last year, he missed games because of quadriceps and calf injuries.
On Tuesday, Goodwin said he’d likely to have to “get a little leaner” to compete in the long jump.
“We’re just hoping that we can just keep this going and keep him healthy,” Shanahan said. “I think it’ll be easier to do that with some of the other guys that we brought in.”