Green latest Cavs link to Hall of Fame
UVa wide receiver Jared Green presented his dad Darrell Green to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

There was no lag in the NFL Hall of Fame connection that Virginia enjoyed while defensive end Chris Long was the Cavaliers' marquee player.

Long, son of NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long, barely had completed his college eligibility before another Cavalier parent was selected for enshrinement.

When ex-Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green was inducted Saturday night, his presenter was his son, UVa redshirt freshman Jared Green.

Jared Green, who joined his Cavalier teammates Monday for the start of preseason practices, laughed when asked if he could give a "timeline" on when he was chosen as a presenter.

"There was none," he said. "My dad appointed me the year before he retired. He had been considered a future Hall of Famer for a while and I asked him one day about his introduction. He told me, 'You'll be the one.' "

The Hall of Fame class of 2008 was made public in early February in conjunction with the Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. Jared began formulating his speech almost immediately, leaving room for some impressions he made after arriving in Canton, Ohio, on Wednesday.

"We got to meet a lot of Hall of Famers," Green said, "and my dad kept talking about the Hall of Fame image. He said, 'Hey, we've got to keep it alive.' "

Darrell Green and his wife, Jewell, have two children, Jared and a younger sister, Joi. Despite his bloodlines, Jared's only Division I-A scholarship offer out of Oakton High was from UVa.

"The surprise came after he let me play as a freshman," Jared said. "I'd been begging him for 16 years to let me play football. Until then, I was a basketball player.

"It's like if your father were a policeman. Who wants his kid to be a cop?"

Darrell Green was listed as 5-foot-8 throughout his career, although he insisted Sunday that he was really 5-8 34. Jared is listed at 6-2, 178 pounds.

"I hit a growth spurt around my 10th- or 11th-grade years," Jared said. "I was a little pipsqueak, shorter than my younger sister. Then, one summer, I must have switched shoe sizes maybe four times."

In his prime, Darrell Green was known as the NFL's fastest man. He turned 48 this winter but, according to his son, was timed at 4.4 seconds for 40 yards in the not-too-distant past.

"I've never really raced my dad," Jared said. "Football was something that never really came up, but my dad saw things. I started working out with him and the time came when he said, 'You've got me now.' "

Jared inherited his dad's speed, but he was a work in progress as a wide receiver and sat out the 2007 season.

"Redshirting was the best thing that could have happened to me," he said. "It gave me time to learn the plays and learn the game."

Father and son were walking off the stage in Canton when Darrell reminded Jared that his holiday would end quickly and that practice would begin shortly.

"Hey, two-a-days aren't that bad, at least for the little guys like me," Jared said. "If you're not motivated by what happened over the last weekend, then football's not your game. After that, you have to want to be something great."
 

For Cav, 'the most amazing weekend'
Redskins great's son, a U.Va. WR, relishes time at Hall of Fame
Tuesday, Aug 05, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE He spent time in Canton, Ohio, with such legends as Deacon Jones, John Madden and Gale Sayers, after which University of Virginia wide receiver Jared Green couldn't wait to get back on the field.

"If you're not motivated by what happened this past weekend, then football's not for you," Green told reporters yesterday. "Because that was the most amazing weekend I've witnessed. . . . You have to want to be something great after shaking those guys' hands."

At U.Va., Chris Long is gone, but Al Groh's football team still includes the son of a Hall of Famer. The Cavalier who holds that distinction, as of Saturday, is Green, a redshirt freshman from Northern Virginia. He introduced his father -- retired Redskins cornerback Darrell Green -- at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

It was "like living a dream," Jared Green said of the experience.

That the honor of introducing Darrell would go to Jared had been understood in the Green household for years. "My only son. My best friend. It was a no-brainer," Darrell told reporters.

At 6-2, Jared is taller than his famous father. Now that Darrell has finally lost some of his trademark speed, his son is faster, too. But Jared lacks experience. Not until he was a ninth-grader did his father permit him to play football.

"I guess it's like a father who's a policeman who doesn't want his son to be a cop," Jared said. "My dad saw a lot on the field, and he doesn't want his boy to get hurt."

Before the 11th grade, Jared transferred from Bishop O'Connell to Oakton High. As a junior, he helped Oakton win the state Group AAA, Division 6 title. A season later, he caught four touchdown passes.

Jared, who also had scholarship offers from Central Florida, Tulsa and UAB, committed to U.Va. in late January 2007 -- in part because of his father's admiration for Groh, who had spent more than a decade on NFL coaching staffs.

Coming out of Oakton, Jared invariably was described as raw, but he's more polished as he heads into his second year at U.Va. The Cavaliers opened preseason practice last night.

"The redshirt was the best for me," Jared said. "It gave me time to learn the game, learn the plays, learn the defense and how they change coverages. It also gave me time to mature and find myself as a wide receiver, what my strengths and weaknesses are."

His father, of course, can teach him plenty about the tricks and tendencies of great receivers. But the most important lessons he has learned from his dad concern "just being a real man," Jared said.

"Just because you can score a touchdown or you can intercept a ball, I don't think that qualifies you as a successful role model. My dad, I think he's the greatest role model a kid can have."

 

A fitting tribute to a father, role model
By Jay Jenkins
Published: August 4, 2008

For years, Jared Green has known that he had a Hall of Fame father.
The football world now knows that, too.
On Saturday, in a moment that will live forever in Washington Redskins lore, Green presented his dad, Darrell, at the induction ceremonies at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Green, a redshirt freshman wide receiver at Virginia, charmed the crowd that was covered with burgundy and gold, inducing laughter and tears during a moving introduction.
“My father’s been a Hall of Famer for years,” Green told the pro-Redskin crowd. “The definition of a Hall of Famer is someone who is great at everything. He was a great football player, but he was a better son, brother, father, businessman and most important, a man of God.”
Green essentially raced from the festivities to Charlottesville to report for the start of Virginia’s training camp. The Cavaliers opened practice last night at 6:30 p.m.
“Walking off the stage, my dad gave me a hug and said you know what you have to do now and that is camp,” Green said. “I couldn’t be more excited than I am right now.”
As originally planned, Green redshirted last season and hopes to push for playing time at what could be deemed Virginia’s deepest
position. The pre-training camp depth chart boasted senior Maurice Covington and junior Kevin Ogletree as the favorites, and reserves include senior Cary Koch and sophomores Dontrelle Inman and Staton Jobe.
While manning a spot on the scout team last year, Green drew rave reviews from his teammates for his personality and work ethic, which he earned despite suffering a broken finger that sidelined him temporarily.
Green, of course, is still learning the game that his father dominated professionally for two decades. It was not until the youngster reached ninth grade that he was allowed to play the sport.
“The redshirt was the best for me,” said Green, who teamed with UVa tailback Keith Payne at Oakton High on a state title team in 2005. “It gave me time to learn the game, the plays and learn the defense and how they change coverages.
“Also, it gave me time to mature and find myself as a wide receiver. I feel like I’ve matured tremendously since I signed the papers to come here.”
Regardless of Green’s impact on the gridiron, he has emerged as a potential poster child in a program longing for positive
headlines.
Credit the former Redskin cornerback with an assist on that front, as well.
“You can score touchdowns or intercept the ball, but I don’t think that qualifies you as an outstanding role model,” Green said. “My dad, I think personally, because I’m his son, I think he’s the greatest role model a kid can have.”
Extra points …
Virginia announced a collection of players that have joined the team as walk-ons, a group that includes former Cavalier soccer standout Yannick Reyering. The native of Germany, who has completed his soccer eligibility, joins fellow walk-on placekicker Robert Randolph (Naples, Fla.) and returning redshirt freshman Chris Hinkebein in the battle to become the starter.
The other players joining include the following: center John Maghamez (Ashburn), quarterback Kyle McArtin (Warrenton), wide receiver Johnny Pickett (Centreville) and linebacker Brady Stovall (Roanoke).

 

Cavalier football players have trial set
By The Daily Progress Staff
Published: August 4, 2008

A pair of University of Virginia football players on Monday had their trial set on larceny charges stemming from an alleged nightclub incident.

Junior offensive lineman Will Barker and redshirt freshman Dave Roberts were picked up at Club 216 on Water Street on July 26.

The club’s security manager told police the players stole two beers from the club’s back bar, according to a police report.

Roberts also was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol and with using a fake ID.

The players’ trial was set for Aug. 26.