Where Are They Now: Gary Green
11/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 1, 2006
By Lauren Tillman
Former Baylor standout Gary Green played football under head coach Grant Teaff from 1973-77. Green, a member of the team that won the 1974 SWC Championship, was one of the Bears who went on to play professionally.
Green chose Baylor for many reasons. He wanted to find a school in the Southwest Conference, so that he could stay close to home, he was also very impressed with Baylor's student-to-teacher ratio. When it came to athletics, he wanted to go somewhere that used the pro-style offense rather than the wishbone offense, so that he would be able to show his talent.
Green said that Coach Teaff was very influential in his decision to come to Baylor.
"I could have gone to school anywhere," said Green. "Coach Teaff was the one who convinced me after one conversation to go to Baylor, even though they'd only won three games in the past three years. Back then, Baylor was the doormat of the Southwest Conference."
This year's football game against TCU game was the first time that Green had returned to Baylor in several years. He regrets not having enough time to come back as often as he would like.
"The last time I came to Baylor before this year was back in 1994 when all of the old players came back for the Miracle on the Brazos, which was the 20-year reunion of us winning the SWC. We rode in the homecoming parade."
Despite not being able to come back often, Green is still in touch with Baylor athletics.
"I always watch Baylor sports on TV. When I look up and see any BU sport on the television, I always try to watch. Besides football, I especially follow men's tennis, women's basketball and baseball."
Like many former Bears, Green was very surprised by all of the changes that have been sweeping across campus.
"The campus has more than doubled since I was there. All of the new church steeple looking buildings near the marina just add to the beauty of campus," said Green.
Besides being shocked at the growing campus, Green was also amazed by the renovation of the stadium.
"The stadium is just beautiful with all of the new add-ons! Before, there were no end-zone offices, and we didn't really have a weight room. Also, the scoreboards are brand new. Everything looks great."
Green also noticed another big change on campus, pointing out there is not only more diversity in athletics, but on the campus as a whole.
"Back when I played for Baylor, there were only 8 to 10 black athletes in the entire school! Now, more than half of the football team is black."
Green had a double major in health and physical education and a minor in speech radio and TV broadcasting and loved it.
"One of my favorite professors was Dr. George Stokes in the speech department. He was so funny. We hit it off and were friends for many years."
Green said that if he could have played any other varsity sport at Baylor, it would have been basketball.
"It wouldn't have done track! All throughout middle school and high school, I was a five-event man, and I would have been burnt out! I received 86 scholarship offers between track and football. I went through the mail and I threw all of the track ones in the trash."
According to Green, Baylor prepared him both academically and socially.
"I learned how to maneuver my way in hostile environments. Being a black man in the early 70's, I was subjected to an awfully large amount of racial prejudice. In this sense, I had a daily education of being able to deal with anyone and everyone. A lot of people who hated us were in charge of things."
Besides racism, Green had to overcome another major obstacle. He suffered a major knee injury his sophomore year.
"I tore my MCL (medial collateral ligament) the second quarter of the third game, which was too late to save the season for a redshirt," said Green. "I lost my entire sophomore season and I had to wear a cast from my hip to my foot for eight weeks. The Lord was truly with me, though. By God's grace, I came back better than ever."
His senior year, he was voted consensus All America, and he was also selected Kodak All America.
"I got to be on the Bob Hope Christmas Show, and he named all of the Kodak All-Americans," said Green.
Green's fond memories of Baylor far surpass any negative ones that he may have had. They mostly had to do with the great camaraderie on the football team. He said that his teammates were some of the best friends that he'd ever had in my life. Another fond memory of Green's was being able to play on the same team as his brother, who was two years behind him.
"Some of my best times in college involved sitting around at the training table. Back then, we had one of the best training tables in the world. We would sit and laugh and eat with our fellow student-athletes for literally hours upon hours. We were screaming, laughing and telling "yo mama" jokes, both black and whites together. The team was colorblind," said Green.
There are many people from Baylor who still stand out in Green's mind today. His teammates, Dr. George Stokes, coach Doug Schroeder and Teaff were a few of these. He insisted that his biggest inspiration of all was his mother, though.
"No matter how bad things got, she was always there, and she always took care of our family," Green said. "Looking back, there were so many things that she did for me. There aren't many parents in the world that are as dedicated to their children as she was."
Coming back to Baylor is always a huge event for Green, since he has lost contact with almost everyone. He gets very excited about seeing them all again.
"In going pro, I went in the opposite direction of a lot of them, and it was great getting to see them again at the reunion in `94," said Green.
Green said that if he could do everything over, he would have still chosen Baylor over the rest.
"People always tend to second guess themselves, but if I'd gone to Texas, there's no telling what may have happened," said Green.
His advice to current student-athletes is to get their studies, to get their degrees, and not to play around. There are several opportunities for academic tutoring and support. He warned that injuries can happen at any time to anyone, and that the next level is never guaranteed. People either don't get drafted or get cut or hurt after being drafted.
"Your main focus should be using your scholarship to get your degree. Anything else is gravy. I played with some guys who thought they were so great and that they'd go pro. They took a bunch of fluff classes just to stay eligible, and when they didn't get drafted, they only had fluff to fall back on," said Green.
He also said that after being drafted, he saw some of the biggest, toughest guys at camp crying like babies when they got cut. They were the people who didn't get degrees. Their dreams crumbled and sifted through their fingers like fine grains of sand. Green stressed the fact that there are only a very few professional athletes and the pro-life only lasts a few years.
"The average retirement age is 25 years. It's great to have that degree, because the money won't last forever. People dream about the NFL when they hear about those humongous contracts. They start talking about how their homes are going to be on `MTV Cribs.' It's a really rude awakening when it doesn't happen like that and you have no degree," said Green.
Green was fortunate to have had an athletic career after playing for Baylor. He was a 1977 first-round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played until 1983. From 1984-86, he played for the Los Angeles Rams. During his nine years, he was named to the all-rookie team and he was a Chiefs team captain for five years. He was an All-Pro selection each of the last seven years of his career. He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl from 1982-84 and again in 1986.
Some of Green's collegiate accomplishments included being inducted into the Baylor Football Hall of Fame in 1989, being a member of the SWC All Decade Team of the 70's and being inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.
Green is an active member of the NFL Players Association and he is also involved with several charities.
After retiring, Green moved back to his hometown San Antonio. He was a motivational speaker for a youth crisis hotline for about a year. He got tired of traveling and opened a small seafood restaurant from 1992-94, which he considered one of the biggest mistakes in his life.
From 1994-95, Green was the assistant football and track coach at South San Antonio High School, where he also taught speech and debate. From 1995-2004, he was the assistant football coach and the head track coach at Madison High School, and he taught Speech. Since May of 2004, he has been working at Thomas Jefferson High School as the defensive coordinator for football and the assistant track coach. He also teaches health. Green aspires to be a head football coach in the future and would also like to somehow reacquaint himself with professional sports.
Green is married to Mildred Green, and he has three children and three grandchildren. His daughter Lichelle is 28, and her son Jaylyn is nine, her daughter Amerie is three, and her other son Christian is six months old. Green's son, Gary Francis Green II is a 20-year old running back on full scholarship at Kansas. Green's youngest daughter Brittany Potvin is 15-years old and a level 10 gymnast.
