Washington cornerstone

Sporting News, The, Oct 27, 1997 by Dennis Tuttle, Ron Kroichick

Two seasons ago, when John Elway beat him with a 43-yard scoring pass on the last play of the game ... and Michael Irvin had a 23-yard catch over him that led to a Cowboys field goal ... and Tampa Bay pulled off a victory when Alvin Harper caught a TD pass on him ... and Frank Sanders of the Cardinals got past him for a 20-yard reception that set up the winning touchdown, it appeared Father Time had finally caught up with Darrell Green, the Redskins' seemingly ageless cornerback.

But Green, then 35 and in his 13th season of chasing down breakaway runners and outfoxing cocky, young receivers, never knew of the whispers among his teammates, never heard the murmurs among the Washington faithful and never read about his demise in the local papers. In fact, he was completely oblivious to the talk until a few weeks ago, when coach Norv Turner dropped by his lunch table and a visitor broached the subject.

"You probably weren't aware that people were calling me and asking if you were through," Turner said to the man who has won two Super Bowl rings, been selected to six Pro Bowls and will sprint right into the Hall of Fame if he ever decides on a retirement plan.

"Oh, my goodness. No, they weren't," Green said, putting down his sandwich and looking at Turner in near-disbelief.

"Darrell, people were sending in questions: `Do you think this is the beginning of the end?' There were whispers, murmurs in the community that hey, Darrell Green, this might be it."

Green, shaking his head, still can't believe it. And that, too, is understandable when you consider that with the exception of those four games early in 1995, his career has been one of spectacular consistency. After that stretch, Green went the final 10 games of '95 without giving up a score. Last year, he had three interceptions and 78 tackles, played in 96 percent of the team's defensive plays and reached the Pro Bowl as an alternate. This year, his play has been so superb in the Redskins' vastly improved defense under new coordinator Mike Nolan that Green appears destined for another Pro Bowl.

And the man is 37 years old.

"I've known Darrell Green a long time," says Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin, who was an assistant with the Giants and Eagles in the 1980s. "I watch him on special teams, watch him chase down the run, come off the corner blitz, and he still looks sharp to me."

When the Redskins handed the Jaguars their first defeat September 28, Green was an integral reason. He tipped one pass that went for an interception and set up the go-ahead score. He nearly added to his team-record 43 interceptions on another play, and teamed with the other corner, Cris Dishman, and safeties Stanley Richard and Jesse Campbell to hold wide receivers Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell to eight receptions for 89 yards. Despite plenty of time to throw, Mark Brunell could not find his receivers open and was sacked three times and intercepted twice.

In the Redskins' 21-16 victory October 13 over the Cowboys, Green held Anthony Miller to three catches for 25 yards. The flustered Miller had so little room to maneuver that quarterback Troy Aikman threw his way only six times.

"The way Darrell Green plays, he's so quick, you're not going to shake him. He's going to be right there," says Smith, who got a dose of Green's wily experience on a crucial play with the Jaguars leading, 6-0, in the second quarter.

Smith had a touchdown nullified on an offensive interference call when Green went sprawling to the ground. "Darrell Green did an excellent job of acting," Smith says. "He smiled and kind of winked his eye at me."

"Oh, man, I haven't stayed in the league 15 years by being an actor," Green replies with a big grin, failing to otherwise explain his continued proficiency at stopping quarterbacks and receivers 10 to 15 years younger.

Since the Redskins drafted him out of Texas A&I with the last pick of the first round in 1983--the year in which John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O'Brien and Dan Marino provided a gold mine of quarterbacks--Green has developed a bald spot, speckles of gray in his hair, and his time in the 40 yard dash has slipped from 4.15 seconds to 4.3. "But a young guy can't look at Darrell and say, `He's an old man and he can't hang with me.' Darrell can still make the plays," Steelers wide receiver Yancey Thigpen says.

"Everything about me is the same," Green says, mindful that whether you're 27 or 37 he's playing a position where being successful 50 percent of the time will get you released. "What I probably do a little more is study myself more. At this point of my career, the game preparation is really about me, my ability to do my job. I go back every three or four games and look at myself. I know what I've got to do. I know whet I can do. So when I stars to fall out of what I'm good at, then I go back and look at what I've done good for years."

Specifically, Green is still among the best at bumping and running, using his feet and his sprinter's speed, which has won him the NFL's fastest man contest (a 60-yard event) four times. As a senior at Texas A&I, he ran a 10.08 in the 100 meters, second in the country only to Olympic legend Carl Lewis. When Green clocked a 4.31 in the 40 last spring, he moaned, "Hey, I'm not getting old. The timers are getting old."