WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Matt Goodwin wanted to be a lawyer, not a linebacker.
He wanted to make his rebuttals in a courtroom, not on the goal line.
So, what's a bright guy like Goodwin doing chasing down receivers and running backs in the pass-crazy Canadian Football League?
It's what he likes to do best, the Baltimore CFLs linebacker says.
"Before, I never thought about playing football for a career," Goodwin, 24, said. "The idea was absurd.
"But now, I want to play football as long as I can."
His is a career on the rise. Tomorrow, when Baltimore faces the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Eastern Division final in snow-bound Winnipeg, Goodwin figures to play a prominent role.
He has already made a name for himself as a special teams zealot and punt-blocker extraordinaire.
He's been recognized as the Rookie of the Year in the East, and is a clear favorite over Las Vegas place-kicker Carlos Huerta to win the league's top rookie honor.
But more than that, Goodwin is an emotional leader on Baltimore's first-year defense, a hybrid middle linebacker who can play the pass as well as the run.
That it came to this is no small upset, even if coach Don Matthews had hand-picked him as a special project in training camp. Matthews looked at Goodwin's unique combination of size (6 feet 2, 205 pounds) and speed (4.4 in the 40), and saw great promise.
Until this season, though, Goodwin was a reluctant football warrior, at best. He quit Iowa State's team after his freshman year -- then rejoined it as a senior.
He went to Iowa State on an academic scholarship, and graduated with a 3.27 grade-point average as a political science major. He was also a four-year letter winner as a sprinter on the track team.
But law school was his long-range goal; football was not high on his priority list.
"When I quit football, I thought I quit it for good," Goodwin said. "I came back because nobody thought I could do it.
"I don't know if I had a personal transformation or what. But before, if I was on the goal line in college, I'd hope they'd run the other way. Now in that situation, I want to make the tackle myself. It's a more personal thing to me. I've taken football to heart."
Goodwin drew some inspiration to play again from his twin brother Malcolm, also a linebacker with the CFLs. Both were cut from NFL camps in 1993, Matt from the Chicago Bears and Malcolm from the Los Angeles Rams. When they had the chance to play together in the CFL, they jumped at it.
"The only reason I used to play was because I was halfway good at it," Matt Goodwin said. "Everything here this year turned into a one-on-one battle. I liked that. Plus, I'm playing on a winning team. And playing with my brother helps, too."
Even in Baltimore, though, Goodwin took a circuitous path to his current position. He started out at cornerback, was moved to defensive halfback, and then turned into a linebacker.
"At halfback, I had trouble with the waggle," he said, referring to the technique used by slotbacks who hit the line of scrimmage full speed because of the league's unlimited motion rule.
"At cornerback, I didn't have quick enough feet. My footwork was never that good. And I'm kind of small for a linebacker."
But in the CFLs' scheme, his speed enables him to cover backs out of the backfield and his aggressiveness makes him a solid run-stopper.
Goodwin delivered 54 defensive tackles during the regular season, coming up with three sacks and three interceptions.
It was on special teams, though, that Goodwin truly stood out. He led the league in blocked kicks (four), special teams touchdowns (three) and fumble return yards (82). He blocked a punt in last week's 34-15 semifinal victory over Toronto.
Along the way, he went from being a quiet, composed rookie to having more of a vocal presence on the team. His teammates laugh at that transformation.
"Ever since Malcolm got hurt [two weeks ago], Matt has been talking a lot more," said rush end O. J. Brigance.
Veteran cornerback Karl Anthony appreciates that unbridled enthusiasm. "Every time we kick off, Matt and Lester Smith are yelling and hollering, 'Knock somebody down,' " Anthony said. "I feed off those two guys."
In the end, the biggest transformation Goodwin made was from would-be lawyer to productive linebacker.
"Now I'm glad to play football," he said. "It's something I really like to do. My whole attitude has really turned around."