TAMPA, Fla. — Chris Godwin Jr. and David Sills V have been competing since they were 6 years old. Now, the two wide receivers are catching passes together as Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates.
The pair grew up in Delaware, where their youth football teams were rivals. They faced each other from age 6 through 10 in pee-wee football before their paths kept crossing in high school through 7-on-7s and camps.
"It was a little weird for me. We were going against each other for years. I guess our teams were kind of rivals. We were six years old to 10. You're small. You're like little pip squeaks. Being on the same team with him is cool," Godwin Jr. said.
Sills, who is a year younger than Godwin Jr., remembers those matchups well.
"Me and Chris played pee-wee football together. When we were in high school, we played 7-on-7s and camps. He was a year older than me; we were always going against each other," Sills said.
When Godwin Jr.'s team appeared on the schedule, Sills knew it would be a battle.
"We would have some good battles. They had a good team, we had a good team," Sills said.
Even then, Sills recognized Godwin Jr.'s talent.
"He was always one of the best players at six years old. When we played him in high school, 'Alright, this guy is a beast.' Continued to have that same success at Penn State and has carried that to a long career in the NFL," Sills said.
The two followed each other's careers through college before both eventually reaching the NFL. Sills noted that players from Delaware are rare at the professional level.
"There's not too many guys coming out of Delaware," Sills said.
Now reunited in Tampa, the former rivals say they are learning from each other. Godwin has leaned on Sills' experience in Atlanta's offense and his background as a quarterback.
"Getting to see his perspective, too, because he was a quarterback. How he looks at the game is a little bit different than a lot of receivers. Him playing in this offense last year in Atlanta, I got to pick his brain on some things early on. He's been a great addition to our team. He just fit right in," Godwin Jr. said.
Sills said the reunion has been everything he could have hoped for.
"It's cool we're meeting back together now. We've always had a lot of respect for each other, and it's been nothing but awesome since I've been here. I really try to take what I can from Chris, who has played for ten years," Sills said.
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