Pardon Darrell Green for seeming nervous over his coming Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. The “itty bitty guy” from Texas has always worried whether he was good enough.
Green admitted during a conference call Tuesday that as a youth football player, “I was a little fellow and I was scared.” He ran track entering high school rather than play football for fear of not making the latter. Indeed, Green played junior varsity football in 11th grade.
The opposing receiver was always the greatest Green faced, and he faced the greatest of his time in Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice. Fear of looking bad was a motivating factor.
When Jared Green asked his father hours before the hall committee’s selections were announced in February why the latter was nervous given he was “first ballot,” Green realized his lifetime of being an underdog wasn’t shared by others. Green saw the struggles — others saw the successes.
“It just hit me,” said Green of his son’s view. “You’re seeing my career from your perspective. …
“[I] must be the most appreciative hall-of-fame inductee in the history of the hall of fame. When I received the NFL’s Man of the Year [in 1996], I started crying. I don’t feel like I deserve it. The real heart of a man does present itself in moments like that and I’m grateful for the character in me for the general humility. When you do get it, it brings a tremendous amount of appreciation.”
Green is readying for his Aug. 3 induction along with former teammate Art Monk and their former Redskins assistant coach Emmitt Thomas. The past few months have been one of constant reflection. “They always told me I was too small,” said Green.
The stories flowed as they always do with Green. Twenty years in the NFL, two Super Bowl victories, NFL’s Fastest Man title, more highlights than even he remembers, lend for a lot of tales. But Green yesterday remembered the “voice in my ear from my dad that “Boy, you can really play’” as pivotal for someone generously listed as 5-foot-10 to survive in a game of behemoths.
“I learned a lot from my parents from what they did and said and it absolutely carried over to my success,” Green said. “When I came out of college, I got a job. I just happened to be a football player. It was my approach. It carried me 20 years.”
Now as a father of a college football receiver, Green still finds himself being challenged. Jared wasn’t fast enough to get home from the University of Virginia in time to attend Darrell’s hall of fame press conference in February, but if dad wants a mortality check, the younger Green is ready to show why his father is retired.
“[Jared] just told me today he’s been burning them up so I would say he is [faster,]” Green said. “I think I’m officially second fastest guy in the family.”
There he goes being the underdog again.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
