Darrell Green Roundup

Never Short on Speed
By Dave Scheiber
St Petersburg Times

Darrell Green always dreamed big as a kid in Houston, even though he was too small to get much attention on the football field.

"In middle school, I actually played for my elementary school," he said in a recent conference call. "Instead of playing with guys my age, I played with the guys my size."

Green would run home a mile-and-a-half every day to play football after school with his younger friends, but eventually he stopped altogether. "Obviously I got too old and in eighth grade, I didn't play — I was a little afraid, a little small," he said.

But Saturday in Canton, Ohio, nobody will stand taller.
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Green: Hall's small wonder
David Elfin THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Friday, August 1, 2008

Fate easily could have led Darrell Green to some career other than football and to some place other than Canton.

Green played more seasons and more games and intercepted more passes than anyone in the history of the Washington Redskins. He came to embody so much about the franchise that was good.

But destiny, at times, seemed to have something else in mind for Mr. Redskin.
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Art Monk, Darrell Green Set To Carve Their Names in Canton

Art Monk and Darrell Green are deeply loved in DC, and for good reason. They are two of the primary reasons the Redskins brought home three Super Bowl trophies in the '80s and early '90s.

Without their presence, we would never have seen Green's epic punt return in the '87 playoffs, while Monk never would have broken the all-time reception record in '92. More importantly, we wouldn't have experienced the class they possessed, both on and off the field.
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Green's presenter into Hall? That's easy

When Darrell Green found out in February he had been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it didn’t take long for him to decide on a presenter.

Jared Green, a sophomore wide receiver at the University of Virginia, will present his father, a Houston native who played at Jones High School and Texas A&I before his incredible 20-year career as a Redskins cornerback.

“I’ve got three daughters, Crystal, Jerrell and Joi, and one son, Jared Paul,” Green said. “He’s my only boy — my best friend — and that was a no‑brainer. No one else ever crossed my mind.”
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From the Pro Football Hall of Fame Website

Darrell Green's Enshrinement Speech Transcript
Hall of Fame Bio
News & Quotes
Photos from Career
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Blazing speed was always Green's trademark by Gil Brandt NFL.com

Former Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green is the only member of the Class of 2008 to be elected in his first year of eligibility. The honor is well-deserved. Still, few teams recognized that Hall of Fame potential when he first entered the league.

In every draft, there are one or two guys who are really hard to evaluate -- making those players among the most talked-about before the draft. Green was one such prospect leading up to the 1983 draft.

Why was that? For starters, Green played college football at a small school, Texas A&I (since changed to Texas A&M - Kingsville), where he also played a little wide receiver and returned kicks. Plus, he only played three years. And there were concerns about his height, since he was a mere 5-foot-8.

The Cowboys dispatched a scout to Kingsville, Tex., to work out Green in early April. When he returned to Dallas, his message was clear: "Don't worry about Darrell Green's ability to play in the NFL."

Our guy measured Green at just under 5-8, but he noted that Green could "jump out of the gym." More importantly, Green had one major asset in his favor: blazing speed.
The scout brought Green down to the Texas A&I football field to have him run the 40-yard dash, but the turf was a mess. They needed to bring in a university custodian to cut a lane of grass that was about 6 inches high. Still not ideal conditions. Nevertheless, Green ran 4.28 and 4.3.

More at NFL.com.