Davon Godchaux confesses his addiction — and that's admirable, because healing won't begin if there's no admission of a problem. But it ends there.
There'll be no healing because Godchaux is in deep, he knows he's in deep and his solution for being in deep is to go in deeper. The near-obsession for riding horses is at fever pitch for the New Orleans Saints defensive tackle.
"I'd say (it began) probably in the last eight to 10 months," the Plaquemine, La., native said of riding. "I'm just addicted. My mentor and his family always had horses when I was growing up, but I was never into it because I was always so busy in sports camps, AAU basketball, traveling a lot. But right now, if it's not football or family I'm probably riding horses.
"They're all my family at this point because I've got 18 to 20 (horses). Every discipline you can think of — I've got barrel, I've got cutting, I've got cow horses, I've got reining horses — I've got pretty much every discipline you can think of."
And as of Oct. 2, he has Godchaux Ranch, a vast undertaking hatched soon after he began riding.
"I just bought 20 acres in Grandview, Tex., and I've got everything on there," Godchaux said, unleashing a belly laugh. "I've got an arena, I've got 30 stalls, I've got expense stalls. I'm going to definitely have some cattle on there, too, some cows.
"I've got some good people in mind (to help run it). It's like football, you've got to find some people that you trust. You've got to trust somebody to make sure they're running it right while I'm in season. When I'm in offseason — even in season, I still can pull up on you — but offseason I really can pull up on you, because I'm free.
"You never know – I've got those 20 acres, I might have to draw a 50-yard football field out there. You never know."
Godchaux, who played collegiately at LSU, joined the Saints last offseason as part of a trade with New England, where he helped anchor the defense from 2021-24. New Orleans (1-4) will face his former team (3-2) on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome. "Things happen, we both wanted to go a different direction, and that's OK," he said. "The Kraft family (the Patriots are owned by Robert Kraft) has been good to me and my family, so I wish them nothing but the best. But, I'm excited for (Sunday)."
Godchaux fondly recalls the units New England assembled during his four seasons.
"(Coach) Bill (Belichick) had some great defenses," he said. "The schemes, stuff that we did, the playcalling — just the fun that we had. All of my brothers who I had there, just being dominant on defense, that was a great feeling.
"I know we had some struggles on offense, but the defense has always been great, always was a top five, top 10 defense."
Achieving that status with the Saints will take time. New Orleans totally hasn't found its footing defensively but took a significant step in the right direction during Sunday’s 26-14 victory over the Giants. The Saints forced five turnovers, held the Giants to 335 yards and posted a shutout in the second half.
But no footing needs to be gained off the field. Godchaux rides away the angst caused by many issues, a release he began months ago. "It's therapeutic," he said. "It's good for my mental health. It's good for a lot of peoples' mental health.
"It's one of the things I turn to when I'm on some down time and other than going and spending and splurging money on something else, I can enjoy my farm and take care of my horses and just relax."
But his 330 pounds atop a horse doesn't seem especially relaxing for the horse. "A lot of my horses, I don't ride," he said. "I probably only ride about three of them. Those are big horses. Anything above 15 hands (about five feet tall), that'll be good for me.
"Anything 15 or below is probably too small for me. (But) those horses can carry a lot of weight. They can carry more than me."
From now on, they'll be doing their carrying at his ranch, which will operate under a watchful eye.
"I say this with the utmost respect: I'm like an Oprah Winfrey when it comes to managing everything," Godchaux said. "I like to see everything. I like to see where my money goes. I like to be very hands on, because you hear a lot of stories about athletes being taken advantage of. I'm very hands on when it comes to a lot of stuff; it'll drive you crazy if you knew how much I do and actually play football, too.
"I'm very, like, I need to oversee everything. I need to because I've got certain people that I do trust, but I still need to look at it and make sure the numbers are right – math is my favorite subject. So, I'm very hands on when it comes to my stuff."
Another admission, just as incurable, another reason to ride.
