Legend Profile: Gary Green
9/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 22, 2009
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
On Saturday, former All-American cornerback Gary Green (1973-76) came back to Floyd Casey Stadium to be honored as a Baylor Legend during the Bears' home opener.
But his true "dream" homecoming happened in February 2008, when Green landed his first head coaching job and returned to his alma mater at Sam Houston High School in San Antonio, Texas.
"It's been like a dream come true," said Green, who will turn 54 next month. "Of course, this is where I always wanted to come back and coach. I actually applied two or three times that it was open over the past 10 or 12 years, so it was basically a coming-home party."
So you can go home, even if home's no longer what it used to be.
"Sam Houston's an inner-city school that's had declining numbers," said Green, who graduated from the school in 1973. "When I was here 36 years ago, we were a 5A school with 2,300 kids. But now we're down to about 750 and we're in 3A. There was very little discipline, but all that has changed now.
"I love my kids, they know I love them, but I'm tough on them at the same time. A lot of them didn't grow up with a father or have a positive male role model in their lives, so I'm their daddy, their uncle, their coach, their teacher and everything else. And it's very fulfilling. You see these kids that didn't have the advantages, the teachings or the support that a lot of our kids have had. And to see them become successful and be disciplined, responsible, productive citizens, you get so much more out of it than if it was a structured thing."
After going 3-7 last year, the Hurricanes are off to a 2-1 start going into Friday's game against Edison. "We really should be 3-0. We're still making a lot of mistakes, but we've got an awful lot of potential. If I can just keep the kids focused and disciplined and continue learning, we could go all the way."
Green learned about building something from nothing when he came to Baylor 36 years ago as a highly sought cornerback that turned down an offer from Texas coach Darrell Royal.
"One meeting with (coach) Grant Teaff, and it was a done deal," Green said. "Like they said, if ever there was a man who could sell an icebox to an Eskimo, he was the one."
Green suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee in the third game of the 1974 season and had to watch on crutches as the "Miracle on the Brazos" unfolded. He didn't return until the Cotton Bowl game against Penn State, when he went in for the injured free safety, but got to witness some of the Teaff magic.
"We were smaller and weaker than any team we played," Green said. "That year we won the Southwest Conference, I swear that God was on our team, because everybody we played was much bigger, much stronger, much faster. I've seen many instances where guys would get excited and have two or three series where they're playing way above their heads. But then they always came back down. Grant Teaff had us at that unbelievable level for the entire season. We beat teams we had no business being anywhere close to."
A consensus All-American after his senior season, Green was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1977 with the 10th pick overall.
"Some of the scouts and coaches that worked me out told me they had me rated as the best cornerback to come out in the last 10 years," Green said. "But sometimes you hear it and get drafted in the third round or not at all. It was a new experience for me, so I really didn't know what to expect. And I tell my kids how different it is now than it was back then. You've got ESPN and the video clips and all that stuff now. But back then, you'd just sit by your phone and hoped it would ring. And the earlier it rang, the higher you were drafted."
As a rookie with the Chiefs, Green was playing with and against "guys that I idolized just one year earlier," he said.
"It was exciting and even a little scary at first. Because I'm standing there, getting ready to cover a wide receiver who for the last few years I've told all my friends, `Nobody can cover this guy.' And now all of a sudden, I'm standing there in front of this guy, realizing that if I can't cover this guy I'm probably not going to be around for very long."
Green proved to be up to the challenge, finishing his nine-year career with 33 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries and four Pro Bowl appearances with the Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams. After failing to make the playoffs in seven seasons in Kansas City, Green played his final two years in Los Angeles.
"Not winning, not making the playoffs in seven years at Kansas City was kind of disheartening," he said. "But Los Angeles was extra good for me. No. 1, they're always in the playoffs. No. 2, the weather in Los Angeles is a lot better the latter part of the season than in Kansas City. And then my best friend, Eric Harris, who was the right cornerback with the Cheifs, was traded there the year before. And my first cousin, David Hill, was an All-Pro tight end with the Detroit Lions and also got traded there the year before.
"So I got a chance to go to a team that's always in the playoffs; the No. 1 or 2 market in the United States, so the publicity was a lot better; and I got a chance to play with my first cousin and my best friend. And both years, we ended up losing in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion."
Green, who retired from the NFL after the '85 season, said he's excited about coming back to Baylor for Saturday's game.
"I'm very excited about coach (Art) Briles," said Green, who was inducted into the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989. "I know since Coach Teaff left, it's been kind of a revolving door there and become kind of the doormat of the Big 12. But since Coach Briles got there, you see a distinct change. I probably haven't seen that big or that quick of a change since Coach Teaff first got there."
