What’s it like to be the son of an NFL Hall of Fame player?
All last year, then-senior Chris Long had to deal with this question. Unbeknownst to many Virginia fans, however, Long was not the only one in that boat. Wide receiver Jared Green, son of recent Hall of Fame inductee and former Washington Redskin Darrell Green, was one of Long’s teammates as a true freshman last season. Now in his redshirt freshman season, Jared Green is fighting for playing time on the field while continuing to vie for a piece of the respect that his father commands off the field.
“You take the highs, and you take the lows,” Jared Green said. “A lot of people ask you stuff, but I love it because it’s a way of paying respect to my father and it’s also an inspiration for my career.”
Green was thrust into the spotlight even before he got to training camp this season. His father, generally considered one of the greatest cornerbacks in the history of football, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Aug. 2, and Jared Green was the presenter. In his speech, Jared Green called his father “a true role model” and, in closing, introduced him as, “my best friend, Darrell Green.”
“Oh man, that was a dream come true,” Jared Green said. “You know it’s coming, and then the day of, you go out there looking at all those people, and you just speak from your heart. Half the stuff from my speech I didn’t write down.”
Moments after Darrell Green reached the podium for his acceptance speech, he said, “You bet your life I’m going to cry. You bet your life, I will. That’s my boy. That’s my boy right there.”
Now, Darrell Green’s boy is right in the thick of one of Virginia’s deepest positions on the field at wide receiver. Listed as second on the depth chart behind junior Kevin Ogletree, the Vienna, Va. native certainly made a splash in his debut, catching three balls for 40 yards in the season opener against now top-ranked USC.
In a game filled with the inherent negatives of a 52-7 score, Virginia coach Al Groh cited Green’s play as a positive.
“What he’s starting to do is use his speed more,” Groh said following the loss to the Trojans. “He is one of the faster players that we’ve had here, but if he doesn’t have his pedal to the floor all the time, then he doesn’t play faster than other guys did, and he’s starting to understand the value of his speed.”
Of course, speed is the characteristic for which Darrell Green was so well-known — Jared Green said in his speech presenting his 48 year-old father at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that “I’ll just say now I’m officially faster than my dad.”
Speed, however, is not the only area where Jared Green hopes to eclipse his father.
“We push each other, him pushing me and me pushing myself to be greater than him,” Jared Green said. “That’s what we strive for in our family, and that’s what I strive for every day.”
It doesn’t hurt that Darrell Green played a position where he learned to be an expert on how to defend a wide receiver. Plus, who knows if the father-son competition would be as healthy if they both played the same position?
“That helps me out a lot,” Jared Green said smiling. “If I was a corner, it would probably be rough every day.”
Even with his father’s urging in the background, Green has plenty of motivation from his fellow receivers. He noted that emulating the two veteran starting wide receivers Ogletree and senior Maurice Covington is a big part of his learning curve.
“Us younger guys, we look to them as fathers,” Green said laughing. “When we’re out here at school, and in different areas, they help us out a lot. I couldn’t ask for better guys ahead of me.”
Green also stressed his development in his season as a redshirt.
“Redshirting is I believe the best thing for a college football player,” he said. “It gets you on top of the books and it also gives you time to work out and get stronger and learn the game.”
Now, with his sights set on earning more time on the field and gaining ground on his father’s legacy, is Green a bit overwhelmed?
“I like a challenge,” Green said.
He certainly has that.
Read More
Cavaliers collapse, lose 3-2 in walkoff to North Carolina
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayVirginia will head to the loser's bracket Sunday after a disappointing loss to North Carolina.
Gertrude out for season after scooter accident
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayThe hype around his second season will have to wait.
Tony Bennett’s contract extended to 2030
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayWith the legendary coach secured in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers can focus on returning to a standard of postseason success.
