While at Kent State, Goddard joined the
National Weather Service at the
Akron-Canton Airport. He stayed there for five years. After graduating from Kent State in 1960, Goddard joined the weather team at
Westinghouse-owned
KYW-TV (now WKYC-TV) in
Cleveland and was hired for thirteen weeks. He had the distinction of being the first meteorologist on Cleveland television. As fortune would have it,
Hurricane Donna became the first storm he covered. In December 1960, he was on
Linn Sheldon's
Barnaby show. A year later; while at KYW-TV, Goddard worked alongside
sports anchor Jim Graner. Goddard was one of several employees of KYW-TV who agreed to move to
WRCV-TV in
Philadelphia in June 1965, after Westinghouse was allowed by the
FCC to reverse a station trade with
NBC in 1956 based on coercion in order for Westinghouse to retain their NBC affiliations; the KYW calls also moved back to Philadelphia. However, Goddard did not take a liking to Philadelphia, and returned to Cleveland several months later. In 1966, Goddard became the chief meteorologist at WJW-TV, where he would work for the remainder of his career. After returning to Cleveland, Goddard also was employed with the
NFL's
Cleveland Browns as the team's official
statistician for home games. Then a CBS affiliate, WJW carried Browns' games at the time as part of their NFL play-by-play contract until the 1970
AFL-NFL merger (due to the Browns' move to the AFC), at which point the games moved to WKYC – this was a key factor in his having joined the station. He held this position from 1966 to 2011, with the exception of a three-year period from 1996 to 1999 when the franchise was suspended
as the old Browns franchise moved to Baltimore and Cleveland was given a new team. From August 1977 to January 1979, Goddard also hosted WJW's version of
Bowling for Dollars, a syndicated franchised game show. He also appeared in numerous skits on WJW's popular ''
Big Chuck and Lil' John Show'' over the years, and did occasional stage work. In honor of Goddard's 50 years on Cleveland TV, most of which was spent at WJW, the portion of South Marginal Road (the southern frontage road of the
Cleveland Memorial Shoreway) in front of the WJW studios was renamed "Dick Goddard Way" on May 23, 2011. Goddard resided in
Medina Township, Ohio. In December 2014, at age 83, Goddard signed a "multi-year" contract renewal with WJW. On May 18, 2016, Goddard announced that he would retire from his weather duties in November 2016, while continuing his animal advocacy and remaining host of the Woollybear Festival. He delivered his last forecast on the station on November 22, 2016, with the station's weather center renamed for him. He continued to tape animal advocacy and adoption segments for WJW.
The Woollybear Festival In 1973 Goddard created the first Woollybear Festival, a day-long family event dedicated to teaching children about the weather, family fun, and animals. Some of the events include a caterpillar race, animal costume contests, and musical performances. ==Personal life and death==