Trent Green

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Trent Jason Green (born July 9, 1970 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is an American football quarterback for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He played college football at Indiana.

Currently in his second stint with the Rams, Green has also played for the British Columbia Lions, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins. He earned a Super Bowl ring during his first stint with the Rams and was selected to two Pro Bowls with the Chiefs.

[edit] Early years

Green grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and attended St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Early career

In 1993, Green was drafted as the twenty sixth pick in the eighth round and 222nd overall by the San Diego Chargers. He spent a year as a backup, even being cut in 1994 by the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League, finally becoming a NFL starter in 1998 with the Washington Redskins. That year, Trent threw for 3,441 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. The next year, he was slated to be the starter for the St. Louis Rams, but suffered a season-ending injury in a preseason game on a hit to the knee by Rodney Harrison. Kurt Warner took over and led the Rams to the Super Bowl XXXIV championship against the Tennessee Titans. The next year, Green started the season as a backup again. He started most of the middle of the season while Warner was out with a broken hand. The Warner/Green duo led the Rams to the highest team passing yard total in NFL history, with 5,232 net yards. Due to a poor defensive unit, the Rams were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the New Orleans Saints. Nine of the eleven defensive starters would be cut during the offseason. Green also left during the offseason to join the Kansas City Chiefs, who had just lost Elvis Grbac to the Baltimore Ravens.

[edit] Kansas City Chiefs

During his first season in Kansas City, Green struggled despite the presence of tight end Tony Gonzalez and running back Priest Holmes. He threw for 3,783 yards and 17 touchdowns, but also threw 24 interceptions. Green showed marked improvement in 2002, throwing 26 touchdowns to only 13 interceptions as the Chiefs went 8-8. In 2003, Green had his breakout year, throwing for 4,039 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He led the Chiefs to a 13-3 record and a first-round bye in the playoffs. However, in the divisional playoff game, they lost a 38-31 shootout to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. The game was notable for there being no punts by either team, a first in NFL playoff history. Green was elected to his first Pro Bowl that year. The next season, the Chiefs went 7-9 as Priest Holmes suffered a knee injury in their eighth game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida and missed the rest of the regular season. At the time, he was leading the league in both rushing and scoring. However, Green still had a stellar year, passing for 4,591 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. His passing total was second only to Minnesota's Daunte Culpepper.

In 2005, the Chiefs, with an improved defense, improved their record to 10-6, but failed to make the playoffs. Green had another strong season in 2005, throwing for 4,010 yards (second only to New England's Tom Brady), and only throwing just 10 interceptions, his lowest season total ever. Green was elected to his second Pro Bowl following the season. With a third consecutive 4,000 yard season, Green joins Drew Bledsoe, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Dan Fouts and Warren Moon as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to pass for more than 4,000 yards in three or more seasons during their careers. Green has the distinction of having three consecutive seasons with a QB rating of 90.0 or better. Green has started 80 consecutive games during his first five years with the Chiefs, a team record.

Green's 2006 season was put in jeopardy by a severe concussion he suffered during the first game of the season on September 10, 2006, against the Cincinnati Bengals in Kansas City.^[1]

In a bizarre confluence of events, a scrambling Green attempted to slide during a third quarter play, but was hit hard by Cincinnati defensive end Robert Geathers, who had lowered his shoulders, but instead struck the quarterback in an unusual position. However, the official determined that no foul had been committed and Geathers insisted that he had tried to check up, but was pushed by Chiefs receiver Eddie Kennison. CBS announcer Randy Cross, a former offensive lineman with the San Francisco 49ers, believed the hit was unintentional and supported the officials' decision. National Football League officials took the same position and, on September 13, 2006, declined to fine Robert Geathers because he did not have complete control of his body.

Green was rendered unconscious and the game was delayed for over fifteen minutes while Green received medical attention. He reportedly regained consciousness in the tunnel and could not recall the play. According to Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson, preliminary X-rays revealed a "very, very severe concussion" and stated that Green would be out indefinitely.^[2]

On Saturday, October 21, 2006 it was reported that Trent Green was cleared by doctors to return to practice. Chiefs president and general manager Carl Peterson said that this does not mean that he is cleared to play. Peterson confirmed that Green's return to practice will be in a controlled environment to see how far along he is in his recovery from a "very, very severe concussion."^[3]

On November 15th, 2006, Kansas City Chiefs head coach, Herman Edwards announced that Trent Green would take back his starting quarterback job from Damon Huard who took over when Trent Green suffered a concussion.

[edit] Miami Dolphins

On February 27, 2007 Damon Huard was re-signed by the Chiefs for $7.5 million over 3 years, causing a "quarterback controversy" in Kansas City. Green initially asked to take a pay cut in his 2007 salary, and had been granted permission to seek a trade to another team. Teams interested included the Miami Dolphins^[4] (who offered a seventh round draft pick to the Chiefs, but the Chiefs declined, instead seeking a fifth round pick)^[4], the Detroit Lions^[4], and Cleveland Browns^[4] were also interested in Green prior to the 2007 NFL Draft. Green was not traded on draft weekend as previously expected. Trent Green said he would not return to Kansas City, therefore making his release possible. Green has told the Chiefs that Miami is his preference ^[4][5] being that he previously worked under both head coach Cam Cameron and quarterbacks coach Terry Shea.

On June 5, the Chiefs agreed to trade Green to the Miami Dolphins for a conditional fifth round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, pending a physical from Green^[5] which was subsequently passed. Green was introduced at a news conference in Miami on June 6. The draft pick will become a fourth-round pick if Green plays more than 70 percent of Miami's offensive plays. On August 20 the Dolphins named Green the starter with Cleo Lemon named as his backup, despite the fact that neither of them had thrown a TD pass to that point pre-season play. Second round pick John Beck was named third string.

Green's position with his new team—as well as his career—was instantly put in jeopardy on October 7 as he suffered another severe concussion early in a game against the Texans at Houston. With just under 4 minutes to play in the first quarter, Green put his shoulder low to the knees of 315-pound Houston defensive tackle Travis Johnson in a successful attempt to block him on a play that started with a fumbled handoff to Dolphins rookie WR Ted Ginn Jr. Ginn, who was running right-to-left across the backfield when the exchange was fumbled, recovered the ball near the sidelines and then reversed field. Johnson went down in a sprawling tumble on the block at the same time Green fell face-down to the turf, knocked out cold after being struck in the head with Johnson's knee. Johnson, upon getting up and seeing Ginn had been stopped and the play ended, immediately walked towards Green's body, jabbing his finger at the motionless quarterback. Johnson was flagged with a 15-yard penalty for taunting, and medical personnel quickly made their way to Green. After being examined on the field for nearly five minutes, Green was carted off on a stretcher as Cleo Lemon stepped in to take his place.

After the game an angry Travis Johnson had harsh words for Green, comparing him to "the scarecrow [who] wants to get courage" and calling the block "malicious." ^[6] Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, while in some ways siding with Johnson in saying that NFL officials should review the rules on "chop" blocks, also called Johnson's reaction over a fallen player "inexcusable." ^[6]

While many fans and sportswriters alike have called for Green to retire, ^{[7] [8]} Green was back with the team in practice, albeit in street clothes, the Friday after the injury after returning from Kansas City where he was evaluated by the same medical team that made the diagnosis in 2006. Coach Cam Cameron had initially expressed his plans for Green to return to the game before the end of the 2007 season.^[9] However, on October 20, 2007, the Dolphins announced that Green would be placed on injured reserve, and made Cleo Lemon their starting quarterback. Following the season, Green became one of nine players released by the Dolphins on February 11, 2008.

[edit] Return to St. Louis

On March 10, 2008, Green agreed to terms with the St. Louis Rams, re-joining the team he played for from 1999 to 2000.

[edit] Personal life

Trent is married to Julie Green.^[10]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• St. Louis Rams bio