Joey Goodspeed
Joseph Allen Goodspeed is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Early life
Goodspeed attended Oswego High School in Oswego, Illinois, and was a star in football and track & field, along with playing basketball. In football, he was a 1995 SCHUTT All-American High School Football Team selection after being a three-year starter at both fullback and linebacker. As a senior, he rushed 120 times for 1,296 yards and 21 TDs from the fullback slot and averaged 18 tackles per game as a linebacker, while helping Oswego to 9–1 mark in 1995. He also averaged 42 yards per punt as a senior. He was named to Super 25 all-area team by Chicago Sun-Times for his efforts. As a junior, he was also an All-Conference pick in 1994 while carrying 123 times for 1,076 yards and 20 touchdowns. He'd been captain of the team as a junior and senior.In track & field, he was a state qualifier on both the shot put and the discus his junior year.
College career
Goodspeed was a four-year starter at Notre Dame University, where he rushed for 399 yards and scored two touchdowns – one on a 22-yard reception and another on a 33-yard blocked punt return.As a senior for the Fighting Irish, he played and started in all eleven games with 22 rushes and he had 12 receptions for 91 yards and making countless key blocks for Jarius Jackson. As a junior, he played 12 games in 1998 as a backup to veteran Jamie Spencer at fullback. He ranked fourth in rushing with 202 yards, with his 7.0-yards-per-carry mark tops among Irish running backs and was on all the special teams. He was named ABC Sports/Chevrolet Notre Dame MVP vs. Arizona State. He was the Irish starter at fullback to begin the 1997 campaign, earning him the first-team assignment in the first three games of 1997. However, he separated his right shoulder on a fourth down fake-field goal attempt vs. Michigan State, which caused him to miss the last nine regular-season games as well as the Independence Bowl.
As a freshman, he played in nine games as a rookie fullback in 1996, working behind Marc Edwards and Jamie Spencer. He made 85 appearances with the Irish special teams to help become one of six freshmen to earn monograms. He had one pass reception that produced a 22-yard touchdown play vs. Pittsburgh and scored a touchdown on 33-yard return of blocked punt vs. Rutgers. He graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in management.