Sir Purr
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
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He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, the first player to spend more than a year with the team to receive that honor (Reggie White spent one season here in 2000).
"The entire Pro Football Hall of Fame family mourns the passing of Kevin Greene," Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker said. "I regarded him as a personal friend and a true Hall of Famer in every sense. He possessed the most incredible can-do attitude of anyone I ever met. He was a great player, but more than that, he was a great man.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Kevin's wife, Tara, and their entire family. We will forever keep his legacy alive to serve as inspiration for future generations. The Hall of Fame flag will be flown at half-staff in Kevin's memory."
Greene entered the league as a fifth-round pick of the Rams and didn't become a starter until his fourth season. By then, the work he put in was evident to his teammates.
"I don't know if anybody worked as hard as Jack Youngblood, but Kevin had to be close," Hall of Fame tackle and former teammate Jackie Slater said. "He walked in the door and had it in his head that he was going to become that kind of guy.
"Over the years, he just developed his technique to the point he was great. He made pass-rushing a science, and worked and labored and never took a shortcut."
Greene truly found his home when he left for Pittsburgh in free agency, meeting the coaches who would change the trajectory of his career.
Under the tutelage of Dick LeBeau and Capers, he became the focal point of the "Blitzburgh" defense, with 50 sacks in four seasons.
When he came to Carolina, he was part of a veteran core, which was thrown together quickly and responded immediately.