Adam Roy Goodes is one of the most decorated players of Australian Football or as it is also known as Australian rules football.At the age of 19, Adam Goodes made his debut for the Sydney Swans and left behind his mark by winning the ‘Rising Star Award’. Adam Goodes went on to become one of the top scorers of the game and Goodes won multiple accolades throughout his career, most notably when he was named ‘Australian of the Year’ in the year 2014.Adam Goodes played for the Sydney Swans for over 17 seasons and was one of their most key players owing to his versatile playing positions and durability. At the same time, he is regarded as being exceptionally talented for producing the unthinkable of several occasions. Most importantly, Adam Goodes is not only recognized for his heroics on the field but also for his off-the-field activities which made him an inspiration for the indigenous Australians who have been a victim of racism in the past. Adam Goodes himself is of indigenous heritage as his mother was an Aboriginal Australian. The Narungga and Adnyamathanha man has often used his public image and reputation to address racial issues and improve the situation of racism against indigenous Australians. It was an incident in 2013 during Sydney Swans’ Indigenous Round game against Collingwood when a 13-year-old girl sitting in the crowd called Adam Goodes an ‘ape’. The incident turned out to become high publicized owing to the fact that it was a 13-year-old child who racially abused one of the greatest players in AFL history.Where was Adam Goodes born?Adam Goodes was born to Graham Goodes and Lisa May on January 8, 1980. Currently, he is 42 years old. Adam Goodes also has two siblings, Brett Goodes and Jake Goodes. Sadly, Adam’s parents separated when he was merely four years old and it was his mother who raised him, as well as both of his brothers, Jake and Brett. Interestingly, Brett who was younger than Adam eventually went on to play around 22 matches of AFL for Western Bulldogs.Adam Goodes was born in Wallaroo, South Australia but following the separation of his parents, Goodes initially moved somewhere between Wallaroo and Adelaide with his mother and siblings but eventually went to Merbein, Victoria. In 1986, Adam Goodes joined the Merbein West Primary School and it was where he began playing Australian Football for the first time. Then, he moved to Horsham, Victoria, and here, Goodes attended high school and at the same time represented his football team at the under-16 and under-18 stages. When Adam Goodes was 16 years old, he was a part of the TAC Cup playing under the North Ballarat Rebels. Adam Goodes was part of the North Ballarat Rebels team who eventually went on to win the premiership. The very same season he caught the eyes of the scouts of Sydney Swans which can now be understood as the turning point of his life.What is Adam Goodes famous for?Adam Goodes is undoubtedly one of the living greats of Australian football and the honors he has received over the years vouches for the same. Apart from football, Adam Goodes has been a great role model for all the upcoming indigenous people and has been pretty active off the field.Adam Goodes and his cousin, former teammate Michael O’Loughlin joined hands to establish the Goodes O’Loughlin Foundation whose primary motive was to empower the upcoming generations of the indigenous community in all walks of life. The foundation mainly focuses on the education, healthy lifestyles, and employment of a great many people who are Aboriginal Australians by birth. In 2017, the University of Sydney recognized Adam’s efforts towards the upliftment of the nation and awarded him with an honorary doctorate. Adam Goodes is also renowned for the essay he wrote titled ‘The Indigenous Game: A Matter of Choice’. The essay was published in ‘The Australian Game of Football Since 1858 (2008)’. In the essay, Adam talked about how the Aboriginal Australian ball game, Marngrook is pretty similar to the modern-day Australian Football that we see today. Adam Goodes is also credited for co-founding the GO foundation along with the likes of James Gallichan and Michael O’Loughlin in 2011. The foremost aim of the foundation was to educate the indigenous Australians. On the football field, Goodes has won various individual, as well as team trophies winning two Premiership with Sydney Swans in 2005 and 2012 along with a McClelland Trophy in 2014. Goodes is famous for winning two Brownlow Medals becoming only the 12th person in history to achieve this feat. He won his first Brownlow medal in 2003 but it was tied with Mark Ricciuto and Nathan Buckley but when he won the second Brownlow medal in 2006, he won it undisputedly. The Brownlow medal, given to the fairest and best player in AFL every season, is decided by votes. Adam Goodes was also a part of the team of the century which was announced in the 2000s and was placed at the Centre Half-Back position.Adam Goodes QuotesAdam Goodes is very well decorated ranging from his heroics in the grand final victory over Hawthorn to his constant efforts of fighting racism throughout his career. He has also been awarded the best and fairest player of the season in the Australian Football League on multiple occasions speaking leaps and bounds about the talent and the character of the person. Let us take a look at some of the most quotes of Adam Goodes.‘Whenever I had been racially vilified before it had been by peers or drunk men. It’s more shocking when it’s a 13-year-old child. No 13-year-old is racist.’- Adam Goodes.‘You know obviously my stand on racism is that it’s unacceptable and that we should always stand up to it.’- Adam Goodes.‘I think any time people are recognized for standing up for what they believe in and the way that they do it is a step forward, because if we don’t stand up for what we believe in and we let people get away with not educating them for things that they have said they’re going to think that behavior is acceptable.’- Adam Goodes.‘Because women are more than the people who raise our children, they are fantastic leaders in their own rights in our community, and we want to give them the same safe environment, as we would expect.’- Adam Goodes.‘What I’ve seen, and the reactions from ‘The Final Quarter’ and ‘The Australian Dream’, is that a lot more people are more willing to share their stories around racism.’- Adam Goodes.Adam Goodes’ CareerAdam Goodes’ AFL career began when he was picked by the Sydney Swans in the 1997 AFL draft. Goodes began to break into the first team only in 1999, he spent the 1998 season as a reserve. His debut season in 1999 was a grand success as he managed to bag the coveted Rising Star Award that very season.In the following two seasons, Goodes showed his versatility in the Australian game and played at various positions but wasn’t very consistent. Upsettingly, during the early days of the 2002 season, Goodes was experiencing a poor run of form and there were chances of him being dropped from the Swans team but with the arrival of coach Paul Roos midseason, Goodes began playing in the ruck which resulted in a significant improvement in his form. Eventually, Goodes went on to play on the wings as he injured his knee on a couple of occasions while playing in the ruck, and coincidentally, it was while playing on the wing that he won the Brownlow medals. In the 2003 season, Goodes did exceedingly well and won the prestigious Brownlow medal, although, the 2004-05 season did not have the same amount of success primarily due to the fact that Goodes suffered from knee injuries, a significant one while playing against the West Coast Eagles. In the match against the West Coast Eagles, he was playing in the ruck and due to an awkward fall, he hurt his knee which eventually led to him playing in the backline for the rest of the season.Additionally, Goodes could well be regarded as a big-game player as it was his spectacular performance in the 2005 grand final that led to the Sydney Swans winning their first-ever premiership title since 1933. Throughout his career, Adam Goodes had to face ups and downs especially due to the racism and when there were incidents of booing Goodes, but he managed to play through it. The incident in 2013 when the 13-year old Collingwood fan called Goodes an ‘ape’ had deeper repercussions as it was a mere 13-year-old child and not some drunk man in the stands. The incident became pretty publicized but the booing didn’t stop. In 2015, a large section of the Perth crowd booed Goodes and the reason behind it was believed to be largely racist; Goodes then decided to stop playing indefinitely and later that season announced that it was his final season in the Australian Football League. It is saddening the way his career concluded but he has secured an elite place as one of the greatest ever AFL players.
Adam Roy Goodes is one of the most decorated players of Australian Football or as it is also known as Australian rules football.
