Godfrey attended Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia, where he was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and track).

Godfrey was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1996 NFL draft,[1] after dropping because of his diminished production as a college senior.

Although he was selected to play middle linebacker, the level of skill and speed he demonstrated in training camp, allowed the Cowboys to move him into different defensive positions.

In the 90's, the Cowboys organization felt they could find linebackers through the draft, without the need of paying a premium and adversely impacting the salary cap, so they allowed talented and productive players like Ken Norton Jr., Darrin Smith, Dixon Edwards and Robert Jones, to leave via free agency, instead of signing them into long-term contracts.

During the 2000 free agency period, although Godfrey was firmly entrenched as the team starting middle linebacker, the Cowboys chose not to match the offer he received from the Tennessee Titans and decided to let Dat Nguyen take over the position.

Even though the Titans reworked his contract, with him agreeing to take less money, the team released him for salary cap reasons at the start of training camp in 2003.

[2] On August 21, 2007, Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, seeking to rebuild an injury-riddled linebacking corps, talked Godfrey out of retirement.