_2014.jpg) Greenc. 2014 | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1959-07-27)July 27, 1959 (age 66) Natchez, Mississippi, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | North Natchez (Natchez, Mississippi) | ||||||||||||
| College | Pittsburgh (1977–1980) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1981: 1st round, 7th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Hugh Donell Green (born July 27, 1959) is an American former professionalfootball player who was alinebacker for 11 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1991. He playedcollege football for thePittsburgh Panthers as adefensive end, and was recognized as a three-time consensusAll-American. Green was selected in the first round of the1981 NFL draft, and played for theTampa Bay Buccaneers and theMiami Dolphins.
Green was born inNatchez, Mississippi. He attendedNorth Natchez High School.
Green attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he playeddefensive end for theUniversity of Pittsburgh Panthers from 1977 to 1980. Green was part of an elite team that included four future NFL Hall of Fame players: Defensive endRickey Jackson, CenterRuss Grimm, linemanJimbo Covert and quarterbackDan Marino. Several other future NFL stars would be his teammates, includingMark May. He was a three-time consensus first-team All-American (1978,1979,1980) and a second-team All-America selection as a freshman in 1977. He was a consensus four-time All-East selection as well. In the 4 years Green played, the Pittsburgh Panthers compiled a 39–8–1 record, winning three bowl games en route (twoGator Bowls and oneFiesta Bowl). His No. 99 jersey was retired at halftime of his final home game in the 1980 season. After the season, he played in both theHula Bowl andJapan Bowl All-star games.
Green left the university with 460tackles and 53 careersacks in his college career.[1] According toUSC andTampa Bay Buccaneers coachJohn McKay, "Hugh Green is the most productive player at his position I have ever seen in college".[2] The table is a year-by-year showing of Green's defensive statistics.
| Defensive Statistics | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Tackles | Assists | Total | For Loss | Sacks | Yds Lost | Int | FF | FR | PD | Hur | BK | ||||
| 1977 | 12 | 58 | 34 | 92 | 15 | 12 | -76 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 2 | ||||
| 1978 | 12 | 66 | 43 | 109 | 12 | 13 | -82 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 0 | ||||
| 1979 | 12 | 76 | 59 | 135 | 14 | 11 | -104 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 0 | ||||
| 1980 | 12 | 77 | 46 | 123 | 11 | 17 | -112 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 48 | 277 | 183 | 460 | 52 | 53 | -374 | 4 | 24 | 13 | 22 | 76 | 2 | ||||
In 1980, Green won theWalter Camp Award, theMaxwell Award, theLombardi Award and was theSporting News Player of the Year, theUPI Player of the Year and finished second in theHeisman Trophy balloting, losing torunning backGeorge Rogers of theUniversity of South Carolina.[3] Green's second-place finish in the voting was the best a defensive specialist had ever attained until 1997, whenCharles Woodson won the award.[4]
Green was selected to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and was named the fifth greatest college football player of All-Time by collegefootballnews.com.[1] He was named to the all-timeAll-American team compiled byThe Sporting News in 1983.[5] In 2007, Green was ranked No. 14 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list. He was also named toSports Illustrated's College Football All-Century team in 1999.[6]
Green was selected as the seventh overall pick of the first round by the Buccaneers in the1981 NFL draft. He was a1982 All-Pro and1983 All-Pro and was elected to thePro Bowl twice in his career, in 1982 and 1983. Later in his career he suffered several injuries, including a car accident in the middle of the 1984 season for a fracture near the eye.[7] He was traded to the Miami Dolphins in the middle of the 1985 season in exchange for their first- and second-round draft choices in the 1986 draft.[8] In the 1985 season he was on to a career-high in sacks and ended the season getting 7.5 while playing all 16 games despite the mid-season trade.
His 1986 season ended in the Week 3 classic 51–45 game against theNew York Jets. In the first quarter, Green suffered a knee injury and was carted off the field.
In Miami, Green played six more seasons before retiring. He was a member ofDon Shula's teams, which were often playoff contenders, and Green was a starter on those teams, racking up 7.5 sacks in 1989, to tie a career-high.