Darrell Green had uncanny longevity, playing a position premised on speed and quickness well beyond his 40th birthday.
In 2002, he appeared in every game, at the ripe old football age of 42. (Which still sounds really old, even though I’m 44.)
Green was part of two Super Bowl teams. A punt return for a touchdown in 1987 against the Bears, during which he injured a rib and finished the play holding his side, helping to propel the team to an unexpected NFL title.
Also, Green was one of the fastest players in the league for most if not all of his career. He made it into the Hall of Fame on the first try.
We could go on and on. But do we need to? He was a once-in-a-century player, and we hope that every guy who receives the award named for Green will do justice to his NFL legacy.
This year’s winner already is well on his way, only three years into his career. Darrelle Revis, the overwhelming choice of the PFT staff not named “Florio"; even Rosenthal put down the black-and-gold pom-poms for a minute and recognized that Revis deserved it over Tracy Porter. So given that I asked for their opinion, I probably should heed it.
Despite Packers cornerback Charles Woodson winning the NFL defensive player of the year award and giving $2 million to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Revis has emerged as the best corner in the game, with or without over-the-top help when facing Randy Moss.
And so as the 32 teams prepare to select a new slate of incoming rookies, more than a few of the 13 who passed on Revis, such as the Raiders, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Redskins, Falcons, Dolphins, Texans, Bills, and Rams, have to be wondering what in the hell they were thinking -- and hoping that they’re not thinking the same thing when they pick again this year.
