By Will Vandervort
It’s fitting that Malliciah Goodman was drafted by the team who plays its home games in the same place he had his best game at as a Clemson Tiger.
The former Clemson defensive end was taken in the fourth round (127th overall) by the Atlanta Falcons Saturday. Goodman was the first former Tiger taken in Day 3 of the 2013 NFL Draft.
“It was very exciting. It was a very real moment,” Goodman said Saturday in a teleconference with the Falcons. “I feel like I can breathe.”
It’s been a long three-plus months for Goodman since his three-sack performance against LSU in the Georgia Dome on New Year’s Eve. Since then, he has played in the Senior Bowl in Alabama, attended the NFL Combine and worked out for several teams. Then came the stress of waiting for more than 40 hours since the 2013 NFL Draft to get the phone call he has been waiting all his life to receive.
“I know my stock wasn’t high early on, so when I started off, I tried to work harder than everybody else,” Goodman said. “Coming in, I performed well in the Senior Bowl. I did not play in the game, but I played well during the week and then at the combine everything went great.
“I talked to a lot of scouts and that got me on the radar. My visits and all of that went great. Character was no issue. So it has been a rollercoaster, but it allowed everyone else to see what I was doing.”
Goodman, who will join former Clemson teammate and tight end Michael Palmer in Atlanta, showed what he could do in the Chick-fil-A Bowl when he dominated a talent LSU offensive line. With his 6-foot-4, 276-pound frame, thanks to hands that are 11 inches, it helps give him a wing span of 37 inches.
He used those 11-inch hands to knockdown a pass that gave Clemson the ball back in the fourth quarter, allowing the Tigers to go down and score the game-winning field goal.
“He’s got real long arms,” NFL.com’s Mike Mayock said. “I think he’s versatile. He’s one of the better pass rushers in the draft.”
Goodman knew he had a chance to be drafted by the Falcons after Atlanta worked him out in Clemson and then invited him up to Atlanta two weeks later where he was interviewed by general manager Thomas Dimitroff and others.
“It has been a long process after going through all the workouts and all the training and to see it finally pay off, it is a blessing to me,” Goodman said.
Before the draft Goodman said he wanted to make whoever drafted him happy they selected him, now he can’t wait to go and help the Falcons win a second straight NFC South Championship. Goodman will be expected to come in and challenge for the starting defensive end position after Atlanta released Pro Bowler John Abraham before free agency began.
“(They) are going to get a committed and very hard working player,” he said. “A pass rusher that will get to the ball and will control the line of scrimmage, and a team player that a D-line needs.”
Goodman finished his Clemson career with one of his best games when he had three sacks in the victory over LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. He had 28 tackles, including seven sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in 2012.
He also ranked in the top 10 in the nation in forced fumbles with four.
Goodman, who is from Florence, SC ,says he is excited about playing so close to home and close Clemson because he knows his friends and family will be able to watch him play.
“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “Family will not have a problem coming to see me play. They get to see, firsthand, the work that I have put in is paying off. It is going to be great playing there. Coming from Clemson, there are large amounts of fans there so it is going to be a great start to my (NFL) career.”