Goodman’s hands featured in ESPN The Magazine

Malliciah Goodman has always gotten plenty of attention for his big hands.
Now the rest of the nation will find out about them.
The former West Florence standout and Clemson freshman’s 11½-inch hands were featured in the ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue”, which hit newsstands Friday.
Goodman, nicknamed “Handzilla” by his teammates at West Florence, is one of more than 80 athletes used for the edition, which includes NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson , Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and a scantily-clad tennis star Serena Williams.
Goodman’s hands were used in a collage-type photo with the Seahawks’ Patrick Kerney’s shoulder, bicep and tricep, weightlifter Cheryl Haworth’s elbow and Ken Schrader’s hand without a thumb.
Goodman, who wears size XXXXL playing gloves, said he was approached a while back to do it and the photos were shot a couple weeks ago at the school’s weight room.
“It was pretty cool and I definitely wanted to be part of being in the magazine,” Goodman said Friday before returning to Florence during the Tigers bye week. “I’m definitely glad I got to do it.”
Goodman is used to getting attention ever since he was coming up playing at West Florence. He was one of the most highly-recruited players in the state last year and played in the U.S. Army All-American Game.
So far, he’s been as good as advertised for the Tigers. Goodman was one of only a few freshman not to get redshirted this year, and he’s played in all five games backing up Ricky Sapp at defensive end.
Goodman has recorded 10 tackles, including three for loss, and also recorded his first sack against TCU on Sept. 27.
“He is the whole package from the student-athlete standpoint,” Clemson coach Dab Swinney told reporters. “He’s a great student and person. He’s coachable and responded well to everything we’ve put him through so far.”
Goodman credits his early success with the fact he was able to enroll at Clemson in January and went through all of spring practices. He also said he has been able to learn a lot from Sapp, who leads Clemson with seven tackles for loss.
“No doubt coming early helped me,” Goodman said.  “It’s just helped me get more comfortable and get used to being around my teammates.”
Goodman said the biggest adjustment on the field has been not being aggressive enough. At times, he said he was more worried about making mistakes then playing with his instincts.
“Sometimes you don’t want to mess up,” Goodman said.  “But you’ve just got to learn to not hesitate and just go.”
Goodman hopes that will pay off for him the rest of the season, which resumes Saturday against Wake Forest. Clemson heads into the game on a two-game losing streak.
“It was a good time for a bye and it’s time to get things straight and go from there,” Goodman said.