On Dec. 30, 2002, fans of the Washington Redskins said an emotional goodbye to a local hero. But, while the subject of their affection, Darrell Green, will no longer take the field at cornerback, he plans to continue to make a difference in the community.
"You may have seen the last of me trying to knock down passes and getting run over by running backs, but you haven't seen the last of me. Locally and nationally, I plan to make an impact," Green told fans at FedEx Field before the game.
Green is already making an impact outside of football.
In 1988 he launched the Darrell Green Youth Life Foundation, which includes five learning centres in three states and the District of Columbia for kids whose circumstances limit their chances to lead educated, moral and well-adjusted lives. Green plans to devote most of his time and energy to opening more centres across the U.S.
"Our children are our future, yet for too many children, the future is bleak," says Green.
Green's desire to help others stems from his Christian faith and the belief that he's here to do more than play football.
"You have given me a great platform and a great community to do what I believe God created me to do," Green told fans. "That is, to change the world for all that is good, right and godly. This (retirement) is a beginning as much as it is an ending."
It is my goal not only to end a career, but to launch into the future and a life that carries on the purpose of God in this generation."
During the pre-game ceremony assistant general manager Bobby Mitchell presented Green with a U.S.$150,000 cheque for the foundation on behalf of the Redskins. He was also given a football autographed by President Bush.
There are a number of things that made Darrell Green special as a football player. The most noticeable is the fact that he played his entire career - 20 seasons - for the Redskins. His 313 games were the most any player has lasted with one team. Despite being a 7-time Pro Bowl player and a two-time Super Bowl winner, Green never pursued the lucrative offers available through free agency, choosing instead to stay with the Redskins.
At 42, Green was the NFL's oldest active player and the oldest to ever play cornerback. Amazingly, even when he retired he was still among the fastest players in football. He won the NFL Fastest Man award four times and in 1991 was named the World's Fastest Athlete.
A class act on and off the field, in 1997 Green won the US Sprint Good Sportsmanship Award and the USA TODAY Most Caring Athlete Award. In 1999 The Sporting News gave him the Good Guy Award and a year later included him on their list of the "Top 100 Athletes of the Century."
Green's number 28 is expected to be retired - making him just the second Redskins player to receive that honour - and before his last game he was inducted into the Redskins' "Ring of Fame." For the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1996), who holds the NFL record for making at least one interception in 19 consecutive seasons, entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame seems certain.
While Green told fans his farewell game was "a most incredible day," he's never shy about telling people that for him the most incredible day came in 1982, when he invited Jesus Christ into his life.
During his final season with Texas A&I University, his good friend, athletic trainer Doug Taft, invited him to several Bible studies.
"Those Bible studies were really my first experience worshipping and hearing the truth of Jesus," Green told Today's Pentecostal Evangel. Green learned that God had sent Jesus to earth to pay the penalty for man's sins, something the Bible says all are guilty of (Romans 3:23), including himself. "The Word in those Bible studies brought about what the Scripture says is conviction. I got down on my knees in my dorm and asked God to forgive me like the unbelievers in Acts 2."
As he started to attend church and study the Bible, Green's life began to be transformed by God's Holy Spirit. Green sees this transformation as a race, not a sprint. "As a [Christian], your whole life is transformed. It says also being transformed until the day you die."
Green, who says "I never cheated on my wife. I don't drink, I don't smoke and I go home to my family every night," feels obedience to God's will resulted in blessings.
"There's no way I can separate my relationship with the Lord from my longevity and success. God made provisions for me to stay and have the favour here as well as to keep me safe and extend my talents into my 40s."
In Life in the Fast Lane (Good News Publishers) the 5'9" Green stated, "I'm kind of a weakling kind of guy. But there is a grace to do what I'm asked to do, whether tackling or running or catching. It's been a real honour to witness the awesomeness of God in how He's gifted me physically. It's incredible."
Most talented athletes lament having to call it quits, but not Green.
"You know why this is easy for me? Because I have a life, a purpose, a destiny. I want to make sure that our children are nurtured, raised in the right and proper environment, educated with excellence and, most important, raised with an understanding of what's right and wrong and choose right."
In 20 years Green says he hopes people will hear his name and say, "Oh, by the way, he used to play football, too."
