CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Spectrum News 1 athlete of the week, Logan Godman, relied on his teammates, family, faith and medical team to bounce back onto the field this season.
Now, Godman is looking forward to a full and healthy senior season as a long snapper, hoping to make a collegiate Division I roster.
“I’ve liked playing football since I’ve been able to understand the game. My dad taught me how to understand and watch the game. And because of that, he’s given me the opportunity to play in high school,” Godman said at a recent practice.
His dream to play football almost ended last year, when an anterior cruciate ligament tear sidelined him early in the 2022 season.
“So the first game, I got up for my first play, and I just ran downfield and kept getting hit, got thrown to the side. My knee just … did not want to keep going after that,” Godman recalled.
Surgeons repaired the ligament in October, and then months of physical therapy helped Godman come back to the field. Despite his sadness losing valuable starting time his junior year, Godman said he found a support system among teammates and his personal faith.
“A couple weeks after I had torn my ACL, I had teammates also tear theirs,” Godman said. “So, at the same time, I realized, ‘We’re all going through this together.’ Leaning on my faith definitely helped a lot, but also just going through it with teammates, having people to be there with me.”
Myers Park Head Coach Chris James said he can tell Godman loves the game and looks forward to suiting up every Friday night.
“You can tell he takes his job very serious,” James said while supervising practice. “He’s the kind of kid that’s always perfecting his craft. He’s going to camps, always on the college campus when he can.”
While sidelined and recovering the last year, Godman also started sharing his journey on social media. The decision was twofold, wanting to show medical progress and inspire confidence in himself among collegiate recruiters.
“Social media can help influence you getting recruited, and I just thought it was a good way to get out there and show, I’m coming back better than ever,” Godman said.
He said it is still his dream to play Division I football next year and is hopeful a healthy senior season connects him with recruiters.