Pro football shrine gets a new class
Memorable moments

Green is revered by his contemporaries. Rick Gosselin, pro football writer for the Dallas Morning News, is a native of Grosse Pointe Park and a Michigan State graduate. He grew up reading Green's work. - NFL Football -
Gosselin, the 2004 McCann winner, said he feels honored to be in Green's class.
"Some of the nation's greatest sportswriters have been honored: Arthur Daley, Will McDonough, Dave Anderson, John Steadman and now Jerry Green," Gosselin said. "It is humbling to be in their company."
Green took over the Lions beat for The News on a full-time basis in 1966. It was a time when the NFL was fighting the fledgling American Football League, and pro football's popularity was soaring. - NFL Football -
Green's reporting instincts and diligence were rewarded . In 1966, he hung around Tiger Stadium after practice and noticed that the Lions were giving a tryout to a slightly built, balding man whose only experience was kicking a soccer ball.
The man was Garo Yepremian, and Green had a national scoop that the Lions were about to sign a soccer-style kicker. - NFL Football -
Green's persistence paid dividends again in the week leading up to Super Bowl III -- the famed game in which New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath guaranteed a victory over the mighty Baltimore Colts.
Namath shooed away most writers from NFL cities. He considered them the enemy of the AFL. But Green would not be put off, and he was one of the few writers present for a poolside interview with him.
A picture, with Green in the group, ran in many national publications and has been an NFL classic. - NFL Football -
Through all the years and games, travel and deadlines, Green hasn't lost his enthusiasm to search for angles and report and write compelling stories for his readers.
Peter King of Sports Illustrated marveled at Green's energy level during a visit to Lions training camp last week. - NFL Football -
"I have a great amount of respect for a guy who's still enthusiastic after 20, 30 or 40 years of what they do," King said. "When I saw Jerry at the Super Bowl in Jacksonville this year, I saw that here's a guy who, after so many years of doing this, is still involved in the game and in writing a story." - NFL Football -

Mike O'Hara / The Detroit News