CB Darrell Green: Green was a severely undersized 5’8″ 140 LB. athlete in high school that didn’t make his school’s varsity football team until his senior year. Blessed with outstanding speed, Green became an all city player but received zero scholarship offers. He walked on at Texas A&I University and enjoyed a very successful career.
In 1983, the Washington Redskins made Green their first round pick. For the next 20 seasons, Green would become one of the best defensive backs in Pro Football history. He would make the Pro Bowl 7 times, win 2 Super Bowls and be named first team All Pro 4 times. Green would play cornerback until age 42 for the Redskins and finish his career with 54 interceptions.
Many consider Green to be the fastest player to ever play in the NFL. On several occasions he ran down players with elite speed to prevent touchdowns. RBs like Tony Dorsett and Eric Dickerson were victims of a Darrell Green run down. Green won the NFL Fastest man competition four times and never lost the competition. Green ran a sub 4.2 forty yard dash. He had official times of 10.08 in the 100 meters, 20.48 in the 200 meters and 45.90 in the 400. Green defeated Olympic legend Carl Lewis in the 100m in college.
In 2008, Green was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. From diminutive high school player to college football walk-on to Pro Football Hall of Famer. Darrell Green was a great one!
I know what you youngsters are thinking. You see this man wearing #45 and think “how good could he have been?” Long before there was a Seahawk named Kam Chancellor, there was one named Kenny Easley. The 6’3″ 206 lb. Virginia native hailed from Oscar Smith HS. He became the first Virginia HS football player to rush for and pass for 1,000 yards in a season.
