When Cowboys defensive back C.J. Goodwin was about 8 years old, Ku Klux Klan members called him a \u201cmonkey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Black demonstrators gathered on one side of the street, standing firm in protest. Across from them, Klan members in biker-style gear shouted at them. National Guard troops stood in the middle, working to keep the charged crowd from spilling into chaos.<\/p>\n
It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the late 1990s. Goodwin\u2019s father, civil rights activist Perry Galloway Jr., took him and his family to the Klan rally in Claysville, Pa., near his hometown of Wheeling, W. Va., to show him that Black people were as smart and as strong as anyone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat changed my thinking on humanity because it\u2019s like, \u2018Why are you screaming at me?\u2019\u201d Goodwin said. \u201cAnd that was \u2026 a part of the reason I wanted to achieve excellence, because I wanted to have a platform to be like, \u2018That\u2019s not how we should be as people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Galloway, a former NAACP chapter president, inspired his son to always champion people who look like him, Goodwin said.<\/p>\n
One of the ways the Cowboys cornerback has put this into practice is by supporting Black-owned brands, which is why he\u2019s appearing in Don Morphy\u2019s \u201c2nd Annual Man of the Moment\u201d Father\u2019s Day Runway Show on Wednesday in Dallas. The event will feature Goodwin and other NFL players, including former Cowboys cornerback Charvarius Ward, walking the runway to support the Threads for Change nonprofit, which empowers young people and uplifts underserved communities.<\/p>\n
The event at The Mason Dallas in Oak Cliff is hosted by Daniel Mofor, the Cameroonian founder of the Don Morphy clothing brand, and Cameron Boyland, creative director of the event and co-founder of The Bigger Picture, a campaign to promote size inclusivity in men\u2019s fashion.<\/p>\n
A week before the show, Goodwin walked into the Don Morphy store in Dallas\u2019 Design District wearing a charcoal grey \u201cMarathon\u201d shirt, a brand started by the late hip-hop artist Nipsey Hussle, who was of Eritrean descent. He grinned when asked about the shirt, emphasizing his commitment to Black designers.<\/p>\n
The 6-3 defensive back said he appreciates that Don Morphy is Black-owned but also loves the sleek design of the brand\u2019s suits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t really get the publicity the other brands get,\u201d Goodwin said. \u201cBut Don\u2019s could be like a Gucci suit if [it] got publicity. The material is the same. Why not have the athletes and the celebrities wearing this stuff to drive up the value of this stuff as well?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cowboys cornerback plans to wear Don Morphy suits to some games this season and said he hopes to be featured on Instagram accounts such as GQ or NFL Style.<\/p>\n
Tameka Smith, a Dallas-based fashion stylist, is styling him this season and for the runway show, where he\u2019ll wear about three different suits, including a powder-blue option with a thick collar and birds on the lining.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to give him something that I feel was out of the box but still classy because some people are a little bit afraid of colors,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd I had never really seen C.J. in color like that. So I try to still keep it color, but not take him to a place of not being comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys cornerback CJ Goodwin checks out the suit he will wear in an upcoming charity fashion show at Don Morphy men’s custom suits on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Dallas. Goodwin will be walking in the second annual \u201cMan of the Moment: A Father\u2019s Day Runway Show\u201d on June 11.(Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer)<\/span><\/p>\n Goodwin, 35, whose teammates call him \u201cOG\u201d for being one of the older players on the team, encourages fellow defensive backs to wear at least one Black-owned clothing item on game day.<\/p>\n He said safety Juanyeh Thomas has embraced the message, showing up in Black-owned brands or boutique-style clothing.<\/p>\n \u201cOur pictures go on the internet, and many people see that,\u201d Goodwin said. \u201cSo why not put on something Black-owned to push out the Black-owned brand? So I always got some Nipsey on or Russell Westbrook\u2019s brand.\u201d<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t consider himself the best-dressed player on the team, he said, adding that one of the most stylish is wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who sports some bold looks.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you wanna go flamboyant, flashy, I think you gotta go with CeeDee,\u201d Goodwin said. \u201cHe\u2019s into the fashion stuff. He\u2019s into the labels.\u201d<\/p>\n And even though the cornerback is interested in fashion, he\u2019s still the boy from East Wheeling who scooped manure at a farm \u2014 former Pittsburgh Steelers great Mel Blount\u2019s, to be exact \u2014 for extra cash. It led to Goodwin\u2019s break in the NFL, when Blount agreed to call the Steelers about the rookie who went undrafted out of the California University of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Over 10 years in the league, the cornerback has carved out a niche on special teams, but he bounced around to several teams before joining the Cowboys in 2018. In difficult moments, such as the death of his father and just recently, his uncle, fashion has been his solace.<\/p>\n Wearing a quality suit to his uncle\u2019s funeral last week helped him cope with losing one of his biggest supporters, Goodwin said, as well as the funeral having a theme: America\u2019s Team. That and the suit made it easier to say goodbye.<\/p>\n Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.<\/p>\n A: Goodwin’s father, civil rights activist Perry Galloway Jr., inspired him to always champion people who look like him, which led to his support for Black-owned brands.<\/p>\n A: The event is a charity fashion show where Goodwin and other NFL players will walk the runway to support the Threads for Change nonprofit, which empowers young<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction to C.J. Goodwin’s Story When Cowboys defensive back C.J. Goodwin was about 8 years old, Ku Klux Klan members called him a \u201cmonkey.\u201d Black demonstrators gathered on one side of the street, standing firm in protest. Across from them, Klan members in biker-style gear shouted at them. National Guard troops stood in the middle, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/RP343SLB3ZGH5L4WTDS3R6ZV74.jpg?auth=2a3918f84116f740240461826538bf727425647ba2ad4095796d9646196477fe&height=630&width=1200&focal=2493,744&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7385,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383\/revisions\/7385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Encouraging Fellow Players<\/h5>\n
Goodwin’s Fashion Sense<\/h6>\n
Conclusion<\/h1>\n
Frequently Asked Questions<\/h1>\n
Q: What inspired C.J. Goodwin to support Black-owned brands?<\/h2>\n
Q: What is the “2nd Annual Man of the Moment” Father\u2019s Day Runway Show?<\/h2>\n