Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Chris Godwin Is Raising Awareness for Pets Who 'Deserve a Second Chance'

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin is proving he is a champion on and off the field.

The 26-year-old wide receiver is partnering with Hill's Pet Nutrition and PetSmart to raise awareness about pet adoption. This is a cause close to Godwin's heart, as he founded the Team Godwin Foundation with his wife Mariah, 26, in 2018 to provide at-risk animals a second chance through advocacy and financial support.

"The foundation me and my wife started back in 2018 was surrounded around pet adoption, specifically dogs," Godwin tells PEOPLE. He continues, "We recognize the problem that hundreds of thousands of dogs are out there in shelters that are homeless and that will possibly be killed just for lack of space. This is a problem that's continuing because people aren't adopting their dogs; they're buying from puppy mills or breeders."

In partnering with PetSmart and Hill's Pet Nutrition, Godwin hopes to amplify the voice of his foundation and, in turn, help even more animals.

"They help us to have a much greater reach, and so we're really grateful for that because that's where our heart is, trying to help people to be able to bring new family members into their home and to see just how great adopting their dogs can really be for, not only the dog, but for themselves as well," the NFL player says.

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Courtesy of Chris Godwin

Godwin started enthusiastically embracing the idea of "adopt, don't shop" before founding the Team Godwin Foundation. In 2017, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer and his wife purchased their pomeranian-husky mix Ghost, but in 2018, after Mariah started volunteering at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, the couple decided to adopt their next pet.

"Through her being there and getting to see the work that gets put in and just the situation that a lot of these homeless dogs are in, and hearing the stories that she would tell me, we felt like that that was an area that we could come in and make a difference, and felt like there weren't really too many people that were focused on the homeless dog population," Godwin explains on how his wife's volunteer work at the shelter inspired the couple and the foundation.

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He continues, "And so many of us have dogs in our homes, and we understand the joy that comes with that. So once we understood the problem, we knew from that point on that we would never buy a dog."

In 2018, the pair rescued their pit bull Ziggy from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay and have never looked back. "I think that the kind of love and appreciation that she has shown us, it showed us that what we were doing was something great in just giving a dog a home that came from a pretty rough situation," Godwin tells PEOPLE about the adoption.

Courtesy of Chris Godwin

He adds, "So we're really grateful to have her in our lives, and she's changed our lives in so many different ways and opened our hearts in so many different ways. So we're really grateful for that."

Partnering with PetSmart and Hill's Pet Nutrition is one of many ways Godwin works to raise money for dogs like Ziggy. "PetSmart and Hill's have the MVPets campaign, which allows people to go to MVPets.com where they can upload a picture of their pets, customize it, and then get their own MVPet player card, which is really cool around Super Bowl time. But the other cool thing is that for every card created through February 15th, PetSmart and Hill's will donate a dollar to PetSmart Charities, up to $150,000."

Godwin hopes that others will join him in the fight as he continues to raise awareness for rescue animals.

"All I can ask for is just support from the community and support from my partners. Both of these companies have been great in helping raise awareness for the importance of pet adoption and giving pets the second chance that I believe they deserve," the dog dad says.