Bucs’ Chris Godwin Reveals First Message Received From Tom Brady

Tom Brady didn’t waste any time reaching out to one of his top targets upon joining the Buccaneers.

Brady shot Chris Godwin an Instagram direct message shortly after signing with Tampa Bay in free agency. The star wide receiver initially was in disbelief about the DMs from Brady, who included a friendly ribbing as he got in touch with Godwin.

The 25-year-old recalled the moment as a guest author for Peter King’s Football Morning in America column.

Then I saw we’re agreeing to terms with Tom. I got a notification on my phone. Still I didn’t believe it. I went on Instagram to see if there was any other news on it. I saw a direct message notification. It said it was from “Tom Brady.“

I was like, no, no, no, no, nah, nah. This can’t be the real Tom.

It was the real Tom.

Let me pull it up on my phone. March 17. He said he was excited to play with me, he’s watched me a lot over the years. He even threw a college joke in there: “I won’t hold it against you that you’re a Penn State guy.“

Then he said congrats on your engagement.

I had just gotten engaged. And the greatest player of all time is DM-ing me wishing me good luck with my engagement and saying he’s excited to play with me! That was just shocking to me. I get drafted by Tampa, never thinking I’d ever have a chance to play with Tom Brady, and now, in the prime of my career, he’s gonna be my quarterback.

Little did Godwin know his partnership with Brady would only get more surreal. Tampa Bay’s memorable first season with Brady concluded with a Super Bowl championship, and the Bucs are poised to run it back in the 2021 campaign.