In what had already been a rough Friday morning in NFL circles as Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell was suspended four games for a missed drug test and Dallas rookie Ezekiel Elliot was accused of domestic abuse, the football world suffered more heartbreak as former Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green passed away at 67.
Adam Schefter, ESPN’s main football insider, was the first to break the news on his verified Twitter account.
Former Vikings and Cardinals coach Dennis Green died early this morning after suffering cardiac arrest, per friend Ray Anderson. He was 67.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 22, 2016
Working in both collegiate and professional football, Green finished his NFL career in 2006 with a 113-94 overall record in 13 seasons, though he only went 4-8 in the postseason. Many seem to forget that Green was the head coach of the famous 1998 Minnesota Vikings team that went 15-1 and nearly made a Super Bowl if not for a missed field goal by Gary Anderson that cost them an NFC Championship win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Starting his career in 1971 with the Dayton Flyers as their running back/wide receiver coach at the age of 22, Green mainly was an assistant coach in college until getting a chance in 1979 as the San Francisco 49ers’ special teams coach. Green later rejoined the 49ers as their wide receivers coach from 1986 to 1988, the last time the Pennsylvania native served in a coaching role that was not a head coach.
One of the greatest black coaches in NFL history, Green held the best season by a coach of that trope prior to Indianapolis Colts’ head coach Tony Dungy winning a Super Bowl after the 2006 season, which was coincidentally Green’s final game in the NFL. Green was just the third black head coach in NFL history after Fritz Pollard and Art Shell, helping to usher in a new era of the NFL where teams would be more willing to hire non-white men to lead the team.
Green, the first ever black coach in the Big Ten, also served as a head coach of Northwestern (1981-85) and Stanford (1989-91). Following a 3-8 season in 1982, Green was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. In total, Green’s collegiate record was a less-than-stellar 26-63, but that gets forgotten about thanks to his NFL success.
Michael Bidwill, the president of the Arizona Cardinals, said the following in a statement released by the team .
“All of us at the Cardinals are incredibly saddened by the news of Dennis Green’s passing. Coach Green will rightly be remembered as a true innovator, leader and pioneer among football coaches. We express our deepest sympathy to his family and his many friends.”
Of course, Green will be forever remembered for a rant after a 2006 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football , where he summed football up in a way only an angry coach can.
That rant, thanks to its ferociousness and intensity, has cemented itself as one of the greatest and most memorable in sports history. But, of all people, former ESPN and current Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless put it best in a tweet on Friday morning.
RIP Dennis Green. Please don’t remember him for his “rant.” Remember him as leader with a rare offensive mind who dared to be great.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 22, 2016
Although Green never got another chance to serve in the NFL as a coach, he did coach in the now-defunct United Football League for the California Redwoods, who changed their name after their inaugural season to the Sacramento Mountain Lions. In three years, Green compiled an 8-11 record before eventually suing the league for lack of payment.
Three prominent NFL head coaches — Brian Billick, Tony Dungy, and Mike Tice — served as assistants under Green before getting a chance to shine on their own. Billick and Dungy both went on to win Super Bowls, with Billick defeating the New York Giants in January 2001 and Dungy shutting down the same 2006 Chicago Bears team that riled Green up in February 2007.
Green is survived by his wife, Marie, and children Patti and Jeremy.
[Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images]
