Khaseem Greene (born February 4, 1989) 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 ...
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
. He was drafted by the
Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the
2013 NFL Draft
The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...
. He played
college football at
Rutgers
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...
.
Early years
Greene was born in
Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended
Elizabeth High School, where he played high school football for the Elizabeth Minutemen. He also had a
postgraduate year
A postgraduate (PG) year is an extra year of secondary coursework at a boarding school following high school graduation, but before entering college. It is a gap year option intended for students who either have not applied or were not admitted ...
at
Avon Old Farms
, motto_translation = Aspiring and Persevering
, address = 500 Old Farms Road
, city = Avon
, state = Connecticut
, zipcode = 06001
, country = United St ...
school in Avon Connecticut where he was a standout in basketball, football and track. During his time at Avon Old Farms he was part of the school's first ever New England track championship along with former
New York Giants running back
Michael Cox.
College career
While attending
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
, Greene played for the
Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team from 2008 to 2012. As a junior in 2011, he switched from
safety
Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are two slightly dif ...
to weakside linebacker. He led the
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
with 141 tackles, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. As a senior in 2012, Greene recorded 136 tackles and six sacks with two interceptions, six forced fumbles and two touchdowns via fumble recoveries, and was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team
All-American by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
.
Professional career
Chicago Bears
Greene was drafted in the fourth round (117th pick overall) by the
Chicago Bears, the second linebacker taken by the team.
He signed a four-year contract with the Bears on May 2, 2013. Greene signed a four-year, $2.592 million contract. The deal included a $432,092 signing bonus.
Greene made his NFL debut in week nine against the
Green Bay Packers in place of the injured
Lance Briggs
Lance Marell Briggs (born November 12, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats and was select ...
, recording four tackles. Greene concluded 2013 with 38.5 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble. In March 2014, Greene
tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that he will change his number from #59 to #52, in honor of Rutgers teammate
Eric LeGrand
Eric J. LeGrand (born September 4, 1990) is a former American football defensive tackle who played college football at Rutgers. He became paralyzed while making a tackle in an October 2010 game, but has since regained movement in his shoulders ...
. On May 11, 2015, he was waived by the Bears.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Greene was claimed off waivers by the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
on May 12, 2015. He was released by the Buccaneers on September 4, 2015.
Detroit Lions
On November 18, 2015, Greene was signed to the Lions' practice squad.
On January 4, 2016, Greene signed a futures contract with the Detroit Lions. On September 3, 2016, he was waived by the Lions.
Kansas City Chiefs
On January 21, 2017, Greene signed a futures contract with the Chiefs. On May 9, 2017, he was waived by the Chiefs.
Massachusetts Pirates
He was signed by the
Massachusetts Pirates
The Massachusetts Pirates are a professional indoor football team of the Indoor Football League based in Worcester, Massachusetts, with home games at the DCU Center. The Pirates began play in the 2018 season as a member of the National Arena Lea ...
on November 9, 2019.
Personal life
Greene's half-brother,
Ray Graham, is a running back who played college football for the
Pittsburgh Panthers
The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...
and who has played in the NFL. Their father is Raymond Graham.
Greene has a daughter.
References
External links
Chicago Bears bioScarlet Knights bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Khaseem
1989 births
Living people
All-American college football players
American football safeties
American football linebackers
Elizabeth High School (New Jersey) alumni
Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players
Sportspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey
Players of American football from New Jersey
Chicago Bears players
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Detroit Lions players
Kansas City Chiefs players
Avon Old Farms alumni