Sept. 7, 2005
Navy senior offensive tackle Marshall Green loves a good challenge. As a three-year letterman at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, La., Green had the opportunity to be a preferred walk-on for the hometown LSU Tigers.
The opportunity certainly had to be enticing. LSU football is king in the state and in Baton Rouge it's more important than life or death. It's one of those schools where even the long snapper is treated like a king. He could have been a hometown hero just by walking on and holding a tackling dummy.
Green, however, chose a different, more difficult path. The United States Naval Academy, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the country, was also recruiting Green for football and it ended up being a pretty easy sell.
"I knew I wanted to come here as soon as I saw this place," said Green. "I just fell in love with Annapolis and the surrounding area.
"I also got a sense of brotherhood from the guys on the team," continued Green. "You could just tell that this place was special. They were the kind of guys I wanted to be around."
So Green spurned LSU's walk-on opportunity, as well as a chance to go to the Air Force Academy, and matriculated to Annapolis.
Plebe year was not easy for Marshall. The orientation into the military is difficult for all freshmen and he admitted that sometimes the thought crossed his mind about leaving.
"I think the thought crosses everybody's mind at one time or another when they are a plebe," said Green. "I never seriously thought about quitting though. I don't quit anything I start."
Worse than plebe year for Green was the possibility of having the game of football ripped away from him. Green had a problem with stingers, which is an injury to the brachial plexus (neck/shoulder area) caused by abnormal stretching. Doctors at the Naval Academy sent him to Bethesda to see a specialist. Green was stunned at what the doctor told him.
"He told me I was done. He said I couldn't play again," said Green still shaking his head three years later. "It was the most devastating news I've ever received."
Green, however, refused to give up. His father, who is a sports medicine doctor at LSU, got him in to see one of the top neurologists in Louisiana.
This time, the doctor told Green that he didn't think it was serious and if he could withstand the pain of a stinger now and then, he should be able to resume playing.Green was relieved and his determination to play finally paid off at the end of his sophomore year.
The Midshipmen, under the direction of second-year head coach Paul Johnson, were off to a 6-4 start in the fall of 2003 and were just one win away from clinching the school's first bowl bid since 1996. Navy, however, had been hit with the injury bug as starting center August Roitsch and backup Shane Todd went down with season-ending injuries. Johnson turned to the then unknown 245-pound Green to start the critical game against Central Michigan. He played well that day as Navy crushed the Chippewas, 63-34, clinching a berth in the Houston Bowl. Green went on to start the final two games that year, a 34-6 thrashing of Army and the 38-14 loss at the hands of Texas Tech in the bowl game.
"I was probably outweighed by 50 pounds in all three games," said Green. "I just tried to go as hard and stay as low as I possibly could." Last year, Green was a key cog on an offensive line that helped the Mids win 10 games for the first time since 1905, win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for a second-consecutive year and defeat New Mexico, 34-19, in the Emerald Bowl. Green saw action in every game and started at center in the Duke and Northeastern games.
"Coach Johnson is a great coach," said Green. "I have all the faith in the world in him. I always have. But he is more than just a great football coach. He also really cares about us. He has done a lot for me in working around my academic schedule."
Green's academic schedule is tough. He carries a 3.3 GPA in one of the toughest majors at the Naval Academy, chemistry. He aspires to go to medical school after graduation so he can become a dentist.
"A lot of people told me I was crazy to major in chemistry," said Green. "They said it would be impossible to play football and do well in that major but I didn't listen to them. I like a challenge."
Green has worked hard in school. The 3.3 grade point average has not come easy. It has taken a great deal of extra instruction and late hours of studying. He is currently working on a research project with professor Paul Truelove on silk biopolymers nano composites.In between football and academics, Green has also found time to volunteer at the dental clinic at the Naval Academy, working with Capt. Avers and Cmdr. Buffard.
"They have both been just fantastic and have really helped me out," said Green. "It's been a great experience."
Green has applied to LSU-New Orleans for medical school and is hopeful to receive the one medical billet out of 15 total medical billets that goes to dentistry.
"Right now, I think I'm the only midshipaen that has applied for the dental billet, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed," said Green who is looking forward to his senior year on the football field as the Midshipmen try to become the first team in school history to go to a bowl game three-consecutive years. He made the switch from center to tackle to help reduce the chance of getting a stinger and is expected to be in a three-man rotation at that position with juniors Dan Person and Matt Pritchett.
"I am really excited about this year," said Green. "The offensive line really gets along great and I think we have a chance to surprise some people."
If the 2005 Navy football season follows the same path that Marshall Green has followed, there will be some ups and some downs. But in the end, everything will turn out just right.
