Feature articles on Alex Green in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MJS = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


MJS Note: "Alex Green knew he had these mattress-soft dreadlocks for a reason. In the backseat of his car - for two straight months - Green rested his head against the door and fell asleep at night. His grades were slumping. His wallet was empty. His football future was fading. But the future Green Bay Packers running back had no choice. For nearly an entire semester at Butte Community College (Calif.), Green lived inside his 1998 tan Chevy Lumina at a Wal-Mart parking lot. No blankets. No pillows. Only his gear in the trunk and a Butte sweatshirt covering his legs at night."


About living in his car in a Wal-Mart parking lot while he went to Butte Community College, Alex Green said:
"It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. But it wasn't the most uncomfortable thing either." (MJS)


MJS Note: "Green grew up without his biological dad around, was shoved through grade school, lived in his car, lost his best friend in college and fathered two children along the way."


About how he never knew that he had dyslexia until he went to UH 2 years ago, Green said
"People always ask if I'm comfortable talking about dyslexia. I'm happy that I know. There are people that still don't know they have it that are still in school. I was blessed to find out." (MJS)


About how he has gotten through so many hard times in his life, Green said:
"There were so many points in my life when there didn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel." (MJS)


About having to read in front of the whole class during his 10th grade English class at Benson Ploytechnic High School in Oregon, Green said that he told himself:
"Just get through the words. Just read what you see and get it over with." (MJS)


When the teacher asked him to explain what he had just read, Green said:
"I have no idea." (MJS)


MJS Note: "Laughter ricocheted throughout the room. Kids called Green "dumb" out loud."


When the teacher said to him "What do you mean you don't know what you read?  You just read it.", Green replied:
"I know. But I don't understand what it's saying." (MJS)


About how he attended summer school every year as a kid (unlike his 7 brothers), did all his homework and read every night, Green said:
"And every time the test scores came back to me, it was 40 percent, 50 percent. If I'm lucky, 70 percent. I'm like, 'Man, I just cannot get a solid grade.' I thought it was me. I thought I wasn't doing something right." (MJS)


MJS Note: "Green applied four times just to get into Benson Polytechnic and eventually clawed his way to Butte, Aaron Rodgers' old junior-college training ground. Success on the football field continued. In the same backfield as Aaron's younger brother, Jordan, he led the Roadrunners to a national championship in 2008. Then, he conceived a daughter. Then, everything changed. If his grades didn't improve, Green wouldn't be able to provide for his little girl, Harlym."


MJS Note: "Green worked harder, taking 26 credits one semester at Butte. The plan was to graduate early and get into a NCAA Division I school's spring camp. He spent hours one night trying to interpret Shakespeare for one assignment only to receive an "F." Schoolwork remained a treadmill for Green. He was going nowhere. One more semester at Butte became a necessity. Rock bottom could be found at the local Wal-Mart."


About his first few nights in his car in the Wal-Mart parking lot and his worry that someone would bang on his window and wake him up (he is an insomniac), Green said:
"And it never happened. I have tinted windows, so they probably never saw me in there." (MJS)


MJS Note: "Child-support payments gutted Green's income. He didn't have enough money for a place that final semester. At first, Green slept on various teammates' floors and couches, but he knew this mooching couldn't continue. So one day, Green pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot and called it home. Mom had no clue."


About how her son Alex didn't tell people that he was sleeping in his car and kept mailing child support payments to his daughter's mother, Phyllis Smith said:
"Alex doesn't like to bother people if he's having problems. He likes to work them out himself." (MJS)


About how he decided one day to quit the football team and get a job back in Oregon, Green remembers how hometown friend and Butte teammate Lametrius Davis called him and changed his mind by saying:
"Stay. Do it for your daughter. You can't go. You'll come home, work and that'll be it. Think long term." (MJS)


About how he turned off his car, took a deep breath, and repeated the words "long term" in his head repeatedly, Green said:
"I had a daughter and two months left to finish school. I said, 'I'm not going to go back home. I'm going to stay here and finish it by any means necessary.' " (MJS)


MJS Note: "Green kept showering and brushing his teeth in the team locker room, keeping it a secret from everybody. He gutted out his final courses and finally earned his degree. Several Division I schools, including the University of Washington, bailed at the sight of his transcript, but Hawaii gave him a chance."


MJS Note: "Up to this point, no teacher could pick the lock to Green's mind. That is, until Michelle Nixon came around. An academic advisor and learning specialist at Hawaii, she put Green through IQ tests and discovered he was dyslexic. Many athletes process 3-D images at an advanced level, she said, but struggle with 2-D images. Green couldn't see what he was reading, so he never fully understood it. His whole life, he'd jot down everything his teacher said and try to memorize it. Nothing stuck. Further, Nixon learned that Green missed an entire half of school at a young age. His school in Portland shut down due to radon poisoning. From there, Green was "just kind of passed along," she said."


About how one teacher had told Green that he would never graduate from high school, Nixon said:
"Our public school system, which should catch learning disabilities and reading difficulties, missed him. He didn't get the support he needed . . . A lot of times with athletes, the assumption is, 'Oh, they're just not smart. They just can't do it so we'll just pass them along to the next grade so they can continue to play athletics." (MJS)


MJS Note: "Audio books replaced textbooks. Green closed his eyes when he learned, he "made movies" in his mind. Instead of scribbling for 60 minutes straight, he listened and made bullet points of key dates and landmarks. F's turned to B's. D's turned to A's. Phyllis received personal letters from professors raving about Green's progress."


About how he learned visually,Green (who majored in sociology) said:
"I started to imagine what I was reading. Like a picture. I learned visually. I saw it in my mind, and it became a story. I could understand." (MJS)


About how Green heard that Jarnell Taylor (a close friend from home) had died in a car accident and thought about quitting UH and going home to his daughter in the February before his senior season, UH RB coach Brian Smith said:
"He was a Pacific Ocean away, 2,500 miles away. That was hard on him. He was worried about her." (MJS)


About how Green dealt with his friend's death, Nixon said:
"He needed to persevere when nothing seemed to make sense." (MJS)


MJS Note: "Hawaii's zone-blocking scheme, predicted on anticipation and flow, was suddenly tailor-made for him. The 6-foot, 225-pound back knifed into rushing lanes a split-second before defenders had a chance to hit him. His whopping 8.2 yards per carry ranked best in the nation. No longer did play diagrams look like a foreign language. Green made movies in his head and became a top-flight NFL prospect."


About using visualization techniques for UH's offense, Green said:
"I saw a play on paper, closed my eyes and actually thought about what I'd be doing. I opened my eyes and said, 'OK, now I got that play.' In my mind, I visualized what would happen. So when it happened, I knew how to react to it." (MJS)


About his focus on making the Green Bay Packers' roster, Green said:
"I need to make the 53-man roster. I need to make the team." (MJS)


MJS Note: "With two kids now - son, Kingston, was born in October and is a half brother to Harlym - Green took to Twitter on Tuesday night: "Is it wrong to be emotional when a mans family is on da line??" "


About how the lockout is in the way of his NFL dream, Green said:
"Just another roadblock in the road. I'm used to it." (MJS)


Asked if he sees a parallel in how Green was used at UH and how he could be used in Green Bay, Brian Smith said:
"I think there's a parallel. Absolutely. It's a great thing for him. He'll be able to be an every-down guy for them if they choose to use him like that. He can catch the ball very well. He's great in space. And he's very good at making people miss. He also is big and physical so he can play inside the tackles. He'll be someone who's very versatile for them." (MJS)


About how Green peaked late in his college career, Smith said:
"They're not getting a guy who's a three-year starter, 200-carry-per-year guy who peaked in his college career. They're getting a guy who's starting fresh." (MJS)


Praising Green's work ethic, Smith said:
"He put on 15 pounds of muscle between his junior and senior years at Hawaii. He's been a great example for the young guys in the program to go back and watch film of him at practice. Everything he did was full speed at 110 percent. He wasn't taking reps off. He went as hard as he could. That work ethic will help him at the next level." (MJS)


About how Green dealt with a pass-first offense, Rolo said:
"He never complained about his role in the offense and kept working hard. He's not overly verbal but I noticed on a few occasions, when our backs were against the wall, if he said something the whole offense showed up. He had everyone's full attention. Without him, we would have lacked that quality. He served an inspirational-type role." (MJS)


Asked if Green Bay is a good fit for Green, Rolo said:
"I think it's a great fit for him. His ability to catch the ball is spectacular for a running back. His hands are so soft. He has correct hand placement. He really feels comfortable catching the ball. I think that's what set him apart in the draft. In our offense, the running back position is the ultimate example of being unselfish." (MJS)


Asked what could help Green stand out in the crowded Green Bay RB position, Rolo said:
"I think it's his ability to catch the ball. I can't imagine many people being better than him at catching the ball. The other thing that will stand out is that he will not worry about other backs. He will not worry about anything other than himself getting better." (MJS)


Asked if Green's fumbling woes is a concern, Rolo said:
"I think he corrected that. We stressed that to our backs and receivers very hard. I don't see that being a big issue."  (MJS)


Asked how he will remember Green, Rolo said:
"You see the dreadlocks. You see a football player. You see a running back. But sometimes, I don't think people give him the credit for the person that he is. I know he's going to be a great role model, a great teammate and a great student. Deep down inside he has a good heart. The person that he is may be the most valuable asset to the Packers right now." (MJS)

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/125696638.html

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/125698868.html