Virgil Leo Green (born August 3, 1988) 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 with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and was drafted by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in the seventh round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

Early years

Green is a graduate of

Tulare Union High School Tulare Union High School () is a public school for secondary education in Tulare, Tulare County, California, United States. This high school is part of the Tulare Joint Union High School District, along with Tulare Western High School and Missi ...

, where he played on the Redskins

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. He totaled 61 receptions for 1,014 yards (16.6 avg.) with 12 touchdowns during his career at Tulare, where he earned first-team All-East Yosemite League honors following his senior season. He had 13 catches for 245 yards and four touchdowns in a single game. In addition to football, he lettered four years in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and participated in

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

College career

Green played 50 career games (34 starts) at the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

and totaled 72 receptions for 939 yards (13.0 avg.) with 11

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

while helping the

Wolf Pack A pack is a social group of conspecific canines. Packs aren't formed by all canines, especially small sized canines like the Red fox. The number of members in a pack and their social behavior varies from species to species. Social structure is v ...

rank fifth in the nation with 500.2 total yards per game from 2007–2010. He recorded a personal-best 35 catches for 515 yards (14.7 avg.) with five touchdowns in his senior campaign to earn first-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors. He was named the Nevada Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year as a junior in the 2009 season in addition to being selected to the All-WAC second-team.

College statistics

Professional career

Green was considered to be a top tight end prospect for the

. At the 2011 NFL Combine, he was the top tight end performer in the broad jump and vertical jump categories. Green was chosen in the seventh round with the 204th overall pick in the

by the

Denver Broncos

As a rookie, Green had a limited role behind the main starter

Daniel Fells Daniel Fells (born September 23, 1983) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at UC Davis and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Fells was also a member of the St. Louis Rams, D ...

and

Julius Thomas Julius Dewayne Thomas (born June 27, 1988) is a former American football tight end. He played college football and basketball at Portland State, and was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He also played fo ...

. He started three games and recorded three receptions for 24 yards on the 2011 season. In March 2012, Green was suspended for four games after failing a drug test. Green then began taking prescribed medication for

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...

before receiving approval from the NFL. He remained in a limited role on the offense behind Joel Dreessen and

Jacob Tamme Jacob Francis Tamme ( ; born March 15, 1985) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Kentucky and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Tamme also played for the Denve ...

. He recorded two starts and five receptions for 63 yards. In the 2013 season, Green started three games and recorded nine receptions for 45 yards. On December 28, 2014, Green scored his first career touchdown reception, which was from quarterback

Brock Osweiler Brock Alan Osweiler (born November 22, 1990) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Arizona State and was selected by the Denver Broncos in the s ...

, in a 47–14 win against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

in Week 17. On the 2014 season, he finished with six receptions for 74 yards and one touchdown on nine starts. On March 10, 2015, the Broncos re-signed Green to a three-year, $8.4 million contract. In Week 2, against the Kansas City Chiefs, he scored a one-yard touchdown from

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with th ...

on ''Thursday Night Football''. On the 2015 season, he started five games and finished with 12 receptions for 173 yards and one receiving touchdown. On February 7, 2016, Green played on the Broncos team that won

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...

. In that Super Bowl, the Broncos defeated the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

by a score of 24–10. In the 2016 season, Green started 11 games and finished with 22 receptions for 237 yards and one receiving touchdown. On September 17, 2017, in Week 2 against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, Green had two receptions for 11 yards and a touchdown in the 42–17 victory. In the 2017 season, he started all 16 games and finished with 14 receptions for 191 yards and one receiving touchdown.

Los Angeles Chargers

On March 14, 2018, Green signed a three-year, $8.6 million contract. The deal includes a $2.4 million signing bonus and $5.9 million guaranteed with the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. In Week 5, against the

, he scored his first receiving touchdown as a Charger. In the 2018 season, he finished with 19 receptions for 210 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. In the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs, Green caught a one-yard receiving touchdown in the 41–28 loss to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. In the 2019 season, Green finished with nine receptions for 78 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. In Week 7 of the 2020 season against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

, Green suffered an ankle injury while catching a 26-yard touchdown pass and was placed on injured reserve on October 29, 2020. He finished the 2020 season with three receptions for 50 yards and one touchdown in six games.

Professional statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Virgil 1988 births Living people People from Tulare, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Tulare County, California American football tight ends Nevada Wolf Pack football players Denver Broncos players Los Angeles Chargers players