ERNIE GREEN

Ernie Green is remembered in the NFL as the fullback who opened holes for NFL legend Jim Brown, but Green, a Columbus, Georgia native, produced 5,240 yards from scrimmage in his own right – 3,204 rushing, 2,036 receiving – during a seven-year career with the Cleveland Browns. Green and Brown made up the Browns’ starting backfield for their NFL championship team in 1964. Green switched from halfback to fullback after Brown’s retirement and helped block for Leroy Kelly, another NFL Hall of Famer, leading to Green’s selection to Pro Bowls in 1966 and 1967. In high school, Green was a star in the Georgia Interscholastic Association and played for Spencer, the GIA’s greatest football program. Spencer won four GIA championships in Georgia’s segregated era, including one during Green’s junior season in 1956. Green was a rare four-year starter for legendary GIA coach Odis Spencer. Green also was his school’s class president and a member of the National Honor Society. Green went on to play at the University of Louisville, one of the first traditionally white southern schools to allow African American players, and led the Cardinals in rushing twice, leading him to be inducted into Louisville’s Ring of Honor. After his football days, Green founded Ernie Green Industries, a Kettering, Ohio company with 15 manufacturing plants in three countries.