A. J. Green
Vorlage:Infobox college football player Adriel Jeremiah “A. J.” Green (born July 31, 1988) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, playing under head coach Marvin Lewis. Green graduated from Summerville High School in Summerville, South Carolina, where he played under legendary coach John McKissick. He was selected 4th overall in the 2011 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Early years
Green was on the "juggling team" at his elementary school, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he learned to juggle balls and props as early as second grade. Green said it helped his hand-eye coordination a lot from an early age. He's able to juggle four balls and various props such as bowling pins and flaming wooden sticks.[1]
He also started riding a unicycle in fourth grade.[1]
Always touted for his devotion in the classroom, Green began studying foreign languages during his Freshman year of High School. He is now fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish. He was drafted by the bengals he is now a BENGAL (no literally lol)
High school career
Green was widely considered to be one of the top football prospects of the 2008 high school class.[2][3] Standing Vorlage:Convert and Vorlage:Convert. He earned All-State honors four times and was named by EA Sports the nation's top sophomore player after catching 75 passes for 1,422 yards and 16 touchdowns in the 2006 season. He hauled in 57 passes for 1,217 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman. In his junior season, Green caught 60 passes for 1,203 yards and 14 touchdowns. Green was the only junior nominated to the 2006 USA Today All-American first team. He was also a member of the Rivals.com Junior All-America team.[4]
A. J. Green's 5,373 career receiving yards rank second and his 279 career receptions rank fourth on the National Federation of High Schools’ football all-time career receiving records.[5]
Green was profiled by Sports Illustrated as part of its “Where Will They Be?” stories on potential future professional greats, alongside Peter Uihlein, John Tavares, Tyreke Evans, Elena Delle Donne, and others.[6] Sports Illustrated compared him to the then-Oakland Raiders wideout Randy Moss and predicted Green will be in the NFL by 2011.
Rivals.com ranked Green their #9 prospect for the high school class of 2008,[7] while Scout.com named Green their #10 prospect nationally.[8] He participated in the Under Armour All-America Game.
Green was also on the Summerville High basketball team that claimed the 2007-2008 South Carolina state championship in a championship game against Spartanburg (S.C.) High. (Spartanburg made a 3/4 court shot at the end of the game, but the shot was disallowed by the referees after discussion). They had played in the memory of their fallen coach, Captain Louis Mulkey (Engine 15) of the Charleston, SC F.D., who died along with eight other firefighters in the June 18, 2007, Charleston Sofa Super Store fire. The story of the Summerville High team was featured on Sportscenter on December 2, 2008.
College career
Green verbally committed to attend the University of Georgia in July 2006.[9] He made his commitment official by signing a letter of intent to play at Georgia on February 6, 2008.[10]
2008 Season
In the fourth game of his college career, against Arizona State, Green had 8 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown. For this, he was named SEC Player of the Week.[11] He finished the 2008 season with 56 catches for 963 yards and 8 touchdowns, all Georgia freshman school records. He also led the SEC in receiving yards, with the third-highest total in UGA school history. He was named second-team All-SEC and Freshman of the Year by the SEC coaches, and was named to the Associated Press All-SEC first team. He was not named to any national All-American teams.
2009 Season
Green ended the 2009 regular season with 47 catches for 751 yards and 6 touchdowns, despite being injured the last three games of the season.
Green returned from injury for the 2009 Independence Bowl, December 28, 2009 in Shreveport, LA where he made 6 catches totaling 57 yards.[12]
2010 Season
Green was suspended for the first four games of the 2010 regular season after he admitted to selling his 2009 Independence Bowl Jersey for $1,000 to former North Carolina defensive back Chris Hawkins, who the NCAA described as an agent or someone who markets amateur athletes.[13][14] As part of his punishment, Green was required to repay $1,000 to a charity.[13] Despite missing the first four games, Green finished the season with a team high 57 catches for 848 yards and nine touchdowns.[15]
2011 NFL Draft
On January 9, 2011, Green officially declared for the 2011 NFL Draft.[15] In a controversial pre-draft press conference, Green made clear that he would be disappointed to sign with any NFL teams other than the St. Louis Rams. Green is a well-known friend and fan of Rams quarterback Sam Bradford and was quoted as saying "I want Sam the Ram and A.J. Green mentioned in the same breath as Steve Young and Jerry Rice."
References
- ↑ a b Juggling topics with A.J. Green, from NCAA to NFL to unicycles
- ↑ Green headlines top 10 football players in Class of '08
- ↑ Who's Got Next?
- ↑ Rivals.com Junior All-America Team
- ↑ Coach: No receiver better than A.J. Green
- ↑ Where Will They Be?
- ↑ 2008 Rivals.com Top 100
- ↑ 2008 Scout.com Football Hot 100
- ↑ Georgia lands top wide receiver
- ↑ A.J. Green Signs with UGA
- ↑ 2008 Week 4 SEC Players of the Week
- ↑ ESPN Game Log
- ↑ a b NCAA benches Georgia's A.J. Green In: ESPN, 11 September 2010. Abgerufen im 22 March 2011
- ↑ Alexis Stevens: A.J. Green jersey buyer facing drug charges In: The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 16 September 2010. Abgerufen im 22 March 2011
- ↑ a b Paul Newberry: Georgia WR A.J. Green declares for NFL draft, 9 January 2011. Abgerufen im 22 March 2011