Gregory Keith Fields (born January 23, 1955) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) and the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL).

Early life and high school

Fields was born and grew up in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and attended

Mission High School Mission High School may refer to: * Mission High School (San Francisco, California), a public high school in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) San Francisco, California * Mission High School (Mission, Texas), a secondary school loc ...

. He was an All-City selection in football as a junior and senior.

College career

Fields began his career at

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems in ...

and was named All-Coast Conference as a sophomore before transferring to Grambling State for his final two years of eligibility.

Professional career

Fields was signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 1978 but was cut during training camp. He was signed by the Baltimore Colts and spent the 1979 and 1980 seasons playing mostly special teams and as a reserve on the defensive line. Fields was cut by the Colts at the end of training camp in 1981. Fields was signed by the Atlanta Falcons during the 1982 offseason but was cut during training camp. After being cut he locked himself in his hotel room and told Falcons' defensive line coach Jim Stanley that he refused to be released and did not leave training camp until the police were called. Essentially blackballed from the NFL, Fields was signed by the Los Angeles Express of the newly-formed

(USFL) in 1983. He finished second on the team with ten sacks during the 1983 season. Fields was cut at the end of training camp in 1984 and assaulted Express head coach

John Hadl John Willard Hadl (February 15, 1940 – November 30, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 16 years. He won an AFL championship with the San Diego Cha ...

after being informed of his release. Fields was later signed by the

San Antonio Gunslingers The San Antonio Gunslingers were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984 and 1985. Owned by oil magnate Clinton Manges, the team played its home games in ...

, where he played for two seasons until the USFL folded.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Greg 1955 births Living people Players of American football from San Francisco American football defensive ends Detroit Lions players Baltimore Colts players Atlanta Falcons players Los Angeles Express players San Antonio Gunslingers players Grambling State Tigers football players Hartnell Panthers football players