It’s Darrell Green’s weekend in DC, and after joining the Sports Junkies in studio on Thursday, Green sat down with Brian Mitchell and JP Finlay for an interview the guys aired on Friday’s show, where Green was still in awe of what’s to come.
“This is more than cool; it’s unexplainable,” Green said.
“I’ve got the Hall of Fame, the Greatest 100…this is different. I almost can’t explain it, it’s just special, another level. Beyond that, I just don’t know what word to use. Never in a million years will it happen again where a guy gets his jersey retired and a key to the city in the same day, so I’m just goofy, man!”
BMitch played with Green and has known him a long time, and knows, as Green also told the Junks, that the DB is a man of God who never looked for the accolades, but they somehow found him – and the latest is getting his No. 28 put into the pantheon of Commanders’ elite for all-time.
“I had to tell myself this is fun, let go and just enjoy it, and I really have done that. I’ve enjoyed every bit of it,” Green said. “I appreciate these guys; we’ve never been treated this way, and there’s an ‘us’ in this in what it represents, and who the team is, and what we are hoping to become again to our city and our region, our community. So I’m not just owning this and saying I’m happy – this is bigger than it’s ever been, in my opinion.”
Green is close with Mitch Rales, who will be at the key to the city ceremony for Green Saturday, and he knows Mark Ein and Magic Johnson, but the more he’s gotten to know Josh Harris, the more impressed he’s gotten.
“I normally just kick it with Josh and Marjorie in the suite, but these guys are all real humans; they’re not these gazillionaire untouchables up there in a bubble, they’re real people, and that’s refreshing,” Green said. “I know that they’re sincere and I appreciate them, because they’re just what the doctor ordered. We were on oxygen as a team in our region, so the timing couldn’t have been better. These guys give back, and our community needs it. They’re the lead dogs, and they give us the freedom to go and love and serve our community, and utilize their resources to do that.”
Of course, the Commanders need to win, too, but they’re doing that, and fans (and alumni) throughout the DMV are flocking back for the new era.
“I talk to people who’ve never seen something like this, but we love and appreciate it, and this is a spectacular community,” Green said. “This team, I think, has a vital role to play for the sustainability of our community as it relates to social relationships, and people and fun and fellowship, and that human part. So that, it's big, man.”
BMitch learned just as much about how to give back off the field from Green and others as he did about being a football player, and Green feels that if someone has to be next to be honored…
“You and Santana Moss, you’re the next up Darrell Greens,” Green said. “Y’all made personal friendships and there’s obviously a camaraderie when you play football, so it doesn't take a lot to become family. We’re actually a family, and when I call you any time, any day, I know what I’m gonna get, and I’m very proud of that. Legacy is the next person and how you affect the next human, not what you’ve got. People can trust you even if you're not blood, your opinion means something to me, that’s huge; we’re affected each other in a positive way, in an unselfish way, and that’s what I want people to understand: it’s bigger than chasing down Tony Dorsett, and I think Josh and them are thinking about that.”
Speaking of chasing down Dorsett, though…does D-Green, at age 64, still got that speed?
“I still run sprints and stuff, and I feel good in terms of my legs,” Green laughed. “I’m working with kids, taking on elementary and middle schoolers, and 75 and over, fighting those lower-level fights before I get to that championship level! All y’all out there, if you got an elementary of middle school kid, or you’re 75 or older, I’ll take you!”