William Green (born December 17, 1979) 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 ...
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
. 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 ...
for
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
chose him in the first round of the
2002 NFL Draft
The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...
and he appeared in 46 games for Cleveland between 2002 and 2005.
Early years
Green was born in
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.
. His father was a
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
addict who died of
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
when Green was 13 years old. His mother died of the disease a year later after being infected by his father. After his parents' deaths, Green was separated from his four siblings.
Green attended Holy Spirit High School in
Absecon, New Jersey
Absecon (, ) is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 8,411,
, where he played for the Holy Spirit Spartans
high school football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
team and received multiple high school All-American honors.
College career
Green received an athletic scholarship to attend
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
, and played for the
Boston College Eagles football
The Boston College Eagles football team represents Boston College in the sport of American football. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of ...
team from 1998 to 2001. In two years as a starting running back, he compiled over 2,700 yards rushing and 32 touchdowns. He was a first-team All-
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 M ...
selection in 2000 and 2001, was honored as the Big East Offensive Player of the Year, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American in 2001, after receiving first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), ''The Sporting News'', the Walter Camp Football Foundation, ''Football News'' and ''Pro Football Weekly''.
College statistics
Professional career
In the 2002 NFL Draft, Green was a top-rated player. However, two college suspensions for
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
use hurt his stock on draft day.
Cleveland selected him as 16th overall pick in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. As a rookie in 2002, Green appeared in all 16 regular season games and started ten of them, gaining 887 yards and scoring six touchdowns. In a home game with playoff implications versus Atlanta late in the season, Green provided Browns fans with one of the most memorable moments of the new Browns. He ran a 64-yard touchdown to put the Browns ahead for good in a play known as "Run William Run!" due to radio play by play man Jim Donovan's call of the play.
His 2003 season, however, was fraught with turmoil. After a good start with 559 yards, Green was arrested for
drunk driving
Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.
In the United States, alcohol is invo ...
and marijuana possession. Green was also notoriously seen wearing one shoe and one sock during the arrest. The arrest led to a four-game suspension under the league's substance abuse policy. While under suspension, Green's fiancée, Asia Gray, stabbed him in the back during a domestic dispute. The league extended his suspension through the end of the 2003 season "for treatment purposes."
In 2004, Green gained 585 yards on the season. On November 14, he was ejected prior to a game with the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
for fighting with
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, p ...
Joey Porter
Joseph Eugene Porter (born March 22, 1977) is an American former football outside linebacker who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), and is a former outside linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After playing coll ...
. Around this time, he had disclosed that he was having a child with a woman other than his wife.
His final season in Cleveland was an injury-plagued 2005 campaign where he appeared in eight games and gained only 78 yards. The Browns placed him on
injured reserve
The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...
at the end of training camp in 2006 and reached an injury settlement with Green allowing them to release him.Zac Jackson, ''Browns, Green part ways'', Cleveland Browns.com, 9,8,06 /ref>
In March 2008, it was reported that Green would attempt to play in the NFL again after two seasons out of the league. He worked out at his alma mater Boston College's Pro Day on March 19, showing up in "great shape," bench-pressing 225 pounds 25 times and posting a 42-inch vertical leap, but also ran a 4.85
forty yard dash
The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...
. However, he did not sign a contract.
NFL statistics
Rushing stats
Receiving stats
Personal life
Prior to his 2008 NFL comeback attempt, Green became a Christian. He became a motivational speaker at corporate, church, and school events. His speeches are typically about forgiveness and overcoming struggles. In 2012, he became an ordained minister.
He is the father of eight children, seven with his wife, Asia Gray, and one from a previous relationship. All eight children live with him and his wife on a four-acre property in
Berlin, New Jersey
Berlin is a borough in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 7,588,Cleveland Browns bio