Obscure Athlete of the Week: Willie Green
With the college basketball season coming to an end last night, it’s time to shift gears to football. Both UF and USF will hold their spring games this weekend, so this week’s obscure athlete is a guy who always performed great in practice and had all the potential in the world. Unfortunately he continually got injured and was never able to make it. The Obscure Athlete of the Week is Willie Green.
Willie Green was one of the nation’s top running backs coming out of Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Florida and was named USA Today’s Player of the Year for the state his senior year. Over his high school career he rushed for 7,947 yards (at the time 2nd in Florida history behind only Emmitt Smith) and 107 touchdowns (a state record).
Green came to Florida in 2000, but had to redshirt after having knee reconstruction surgery. Immediately before the 2001 season, he had surgery again to repair further damage to his knee. In 2002, Green suffered a broken foot. Unfortunately, the injuries caught up to him and we were never able to fully experience what Green could do on the football field, but tales of his effort and play during practice and drills have become legendary and Green received the Greg See Most Courageous Award from UF following spring practice in both 2001 and 2003.
The Bull Gator salutes Willie Green and hopes that he is doing well in whatever he is up to. As a fan, I had high hopes for Green and it’s truly unfortunate he wasn’t able to prove himself on the college level.