Culver City football coach Greg Goodyear made it to overtime

On June 9, 2015, I wrote an article about Culver City High School football coach Greg Goodyear having five years to live. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in November of 2014 and the doctors told him he had five years to live. Well, coach Goodyear died last week. He tied the game of life in the fourth quarter and made it to overtime. What kept him alive was Culver City High School sports and especially the football program.

I first met Goodyear in 1997. I was one of his assistant coaches on Culver City's freshman football team. During that season I learned two things about Goodyear. He thought he knew every thing about football and especially the quarterback position and he loved Culver City football. The funny thing is he was right. He knew more about football than any person I have every met and I have been around sports my whole life and he loved Culver City football.

"He had total dedication and total love for Culver City football," said long time assistant and head coach Cornell Myles. "His love for Culver City football was unique. He supported all the Culver City sports but his main heartbeat was Culver City football. He had an impact on a lot of people from Culver City High School and the Culver City community."

In the late 1960's Goodyear became one of the greatest quarterbacks in Culver City High School history throwing for 3,323 yards in his three-year varsity career. "He was a definition of somebody who cared about his old school," said Culver City's head football coach Jahmal Wright. "He wanted to help his old school however he could. He supported all of the sports and he really cared about the football program."

Wright continued to say, "He was very instrumental in raising funds for the football team and he was very instrumental about helping the alumni. Once they finished playing football at Culver City, he would call colleges and different prep schools. He went over and beyond to help as many kids as he could."

Goodyear was also instrumental in recruiting coaches to come to Culver City. In the spring 1998 one of those coaches was Tom Slater, who is now the athletic director at Culver City High School. At the time Salter was recruited he was one of the top football coaches in the nation at Bishop Amat high school.

"Greg's whole adult life was dedicated to helping the Culver City student athletes get to college and especially football players," said Salter. "He worked almost daily trying to help players from Culver City. He would do anything in his power to help kids get into college and further their education and to play football. For the 23 years that I have known him that's what he was doing, and he was really good at it.

"He had connections with almost every school in the country. He helped so many kids. That's his legacy. He would also go to a lot of games in other Culver City sports, but his true love was football. He was so passionate, and he had a very good knowledge of football."

Goodyear, whose father was an outstanding coach and athletic director at Culver City, was a walking encyclopedia regarding Culver City football. "What Greg brought to the Culver City football program was a lot of history, when he played all the up to when he passed away. He was at every game, and he knew all of the players," said Myles.

Myles spoke to Goodyear a few days before he died. "I told him that he was an awesome coach, especially how he helped the kickers and quarterbacks and the fact that he was so dedicated to the Culver City football alumni. I told him his BLOOD WAS NOT RED THAT HE HAD BLUE BLOOD because he was there from the time he played until our last playoff game a few weeks ago. That let me know he died loving Culver City football."

Services for Greg Goodyear are pending. Information about his services will be in this paper in the near future.