Samora Moses Goodson (born October 7, 1984) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Early life and college

Goodson was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, grew up in

Hayward, California Hayward is a city located in Alameda County, California, United States, in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area, and the third largest in ...

, and graduated from Hayward High School in 2002. At Hayward High, Goodson played basketball and only one year of football. Goodson then went to

Citrus College Citrus College is a public community college in Glendora, California. The Citrus Community College District, which supports the institution, includes the communities of Azusa, Claremont, Duarte, Glendora, and Monrovia. Citrus Union High Scho ...

, a community college in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

suburb Glendora. Goodson showed medium interest in the

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

schools

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, but none offered him a scholarship. In 2005, Goodson transferred to the

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (Southeast or SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing t ...

. In two seasons with the

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks are the athletic teams of Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO), located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States. The Redhawks athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and com ...

, Goodson played in 22 games and had 37 receptions for 439 yards and 4 touchdowns. Goodson graduated in 2007 with a degree in university studies.

Professional career

In 2008, Goodson signed with the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. He spent the regular season in the practice squad and was promoted to the active roster for the postseason, but he did not play in any games. Goodson spent the 2009 season trying out for UFL and

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

teams. In 2010, Goodson played in four games for the San Jose Wolves of the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

. He rejoined the SaberCats in 2011. Goodson made 46 receptions for 630 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2011 for San Jose. In 2012 with San Jose, he made 114 receptions for 1,471 yards and 27 touchdowns. In 2013 with San Jose, Goodson made 11 receptions for 134 yards and 1 touchdown. On May 1, 2013, the SaberCats traded Goodson to the

New Orleans VooDoo The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015. The VooDoo were the second team to play in the Arena Football League and play in ...

. Goodson did not play any games with New Orleans. On March 6, 2014, Goodson signed with the

Portland Thunder The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...

of the AFL. With Portland, Goodson made 3 receptions for 25 yards. The Thunder placed Goodson on injured reserve on March 25 and re-assigned Goodson on May 9.http://www.arenafan.com/teams/Portland_Thunder-220/transactions/ Goodson later signed with the expansion

Los Angeles Kiss The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

on May 22.http://www.arenafan.com/teams/Los_Angeles_KISS-219/transactions/ Goodson made 34 receptions for 458 yards and 6 touchdowns with the Kiss. However, he returned to injured reserve on July 17.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodson, Samora 1984 births Living people American football wide receivers Los Angeles Kiss players New Orleans VooDoo players Players of American football from Hayward, California Players of American football from San Jose, California Portland Thunder players San Jose SaberCats players Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football players Citrus Owls football players San Jose Wolves players Hayward High School (California) alumni