Darrell Green walked up to the podium with tears in his eyes. He leaned forward.
“Deacon Jones – said I would cry.”
He paused for a moment looking out and the crowd of burgundy and gold.
“You bet your life I’m going to cry.”
Green deserved to shed a tear. He carried the weight of a 20 year NFL career and a life with more adversity in his 40-plus years on this earth than some countries see in a century. He deserved it.
It seemed fitting for a kid from Jesse Jones High School in Houston, Texas, who ran an unofficial 4.09 40-yard dash, enter the Hall of Fame with as fast as he did. Certain quantum theories would suggest as fast as he ran he actually got younger every time he moved.
No need to question his ability to run a 4.24 at the age of 40. He was really still 27.
Darrell Green was, is, and will always be the embodiment of football in America. More so than ten Brett Favre’s. He was as much a man of speed and determination as he was emotion and passion. He played with it, he lived with it. He retired with it and not he entered the NFL Hall of Fame with it.
He belongs there.
As he stood at the podium, he carried his shoulders high because it’s the only way he knows how to stand. Even with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he stood tall and proud. It’s like a sharp suit, he doesn’t know how else to wear it.
He played 20 seasons in the NFL. Set a handful of records for a defender and a handful more for a player over the age of 40. Some would say that was 20 seasons longer than anyone his size should, at 5-foot-8 and 176 pounds, should have played. But, as his father told him, when others said no.
“He said, go.” Green said referring to his father between tears.
His father was his greatest motivator, though, Green has lost both of his parents. But gained direction and drive. He lost both of his childhood friends but gained a family in burgundy and gold.
“Am I going to cry? You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said to the crowd.
Green stood before the crowd and shared life stories about losing his two friends about finding Jesus Christ. He thanked those who had helped him and gave him a chance. He thanked those who supported him when life was hard.
But it felt like it was a great release for Green. As he spoke it seemed like the load on his shoulders was getting released after every word came out of his mouth. As if his mind were a balloon of emotion and thoughts and someone had untied the knot at the end.
Darrell Green finally made it – to his new home. In Canton, Ohio. And he was greeted by his family – all 60,000 of them.
And he belongs there.
Leave a Reply