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Alumnus champions social change
Paul Talley / Daily Lobo / @DailyLobo
Author Marcus “Goodie” Goodloe, a UNM alumnus, discusses his book “King Maker” at Bookworks on Sept. 26. Goodloe’s book offers a look into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s partnership with athletes and entertainers
Goodloe hopes to inspire justice in student-athletes By Liam Cary-Eaves Leadership, poise, charisma and a positive attitude are all desirable traits when recruiting a student-athlete. Marcus “Goodie” Goodloe brought these traits to the University of New Mexico football field along with a calling to facilitate change in the community. Goodloe, a product of South Central Los Angeles, said he chose to attend UNM in the early 1990s for several of reasons: he would get to see playing time right away for a struggling program, he would get to experience a new culture with plenty of sunshine, and he would get a fresh start to tackle issues dear to him. “I threw more interceptions than I threw touchdowns. I was probably pulled from games more than I started,” Goodloe said. “But I helped, along with others, to bring about a social change on issues that matter here, and I know that to be true.”
Goodloe said the lack of results he produced on the field was made up for with his ability to produce change to issues regarding gender violence, gender inequality and other social injustice issues. As a Lobo, Goodloe wasted no time in trying to facilitate change in the New Mexican community. He said human rights have been an area of interest to him since he was a kid, falling asleep to old speeches given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I remember telling people, ‘Yeah, I have memorized some Run DMC, some Grandmaster Flash, some LL Cool J. But I also memorized some MLK,’” he said. The New Mexico alumnus said the Daily Lobo ran a comic of him, which featured a protest sign that said Goodloe was saving the world yet again, while still a member of the UNM football program. At the time, the Daily Lobo granted Goodloe an editorial every Friday to talk
about the social injustices going on in the community. As a football player, Goodloe was able to learn and lead a group of men to fight for wins on Saturdays. However, that wasn’t enough for the ex-Lobo quarterback. “Football is a metaphor for the potential of what can happen in life,” Goodloe said. “When a group of people come together for a common cause, they commit themselves to work at it and hone in their individual skills, but then use those skills collectively to produce something.” Following his football career, Goodloe continued to lead a group at the University of New Mexico. The ex-quarterback had drawn quite the following throughout his student-athlete career, becoming a rare ASUNM president to never have engaged in Greek life. The former student-president said he was able to overcome not being part of any fraternities because of the noise he made on
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Daily Lobo File Photo
Marcus Goodloe passes the ball in a practice during his junior season in 1991.