GRANITE CITY – Kevin Greene, who went from a three-sport star athlete at Granite City South High School (now Granite City High School) to a walk-on on the Auburn University football team, then a fifth-round draft pick in 1985 by the Los Angeles Rams on his way to the election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died Monday morning, aged 58.
No cause of death was announced by his family or the Hall of Fame. Known for his flowing blonde hair, his love of and passion for football, and both a gregarious and fun-loving personality, Greene played for four NFL teams in his 15-year career, recording a total of 160 sacks, third all-time behind fellow Hall of Famers Bruce Smith (200 sacks) and Reggie White (198). He played in five NFL Pro Bowls, was named All-Pro twice and was also named to the NFL’s all-decade team for the 1990s.
“The entire Pro Football Hall of Fame family mourns the passing of Kevin Greene,” said Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker in a statement published on the NFL website. “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 everyone 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 an inspiration for future generations. The Hall of Fame flag will be flown at half-staff in Kevin’s memory.”
After playing eight seasons with the Rams in the years before their move to St. Louis, Greene teamed with Greg Lloyd to form the core of a powerful defense with the Steelers that became known as “Blitzburgh.” He played three seasons in Pittsburgh, playing in Super Bowl XXX in Tempe, Ariz., his only appearance as a player, a 27-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
“We lost an amazing player and person this morning with the passing of Kevin Greene,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a team statement. “His sudden death is a shock to us all, as he was a close friend and teammate to so many in the Steelers family. When Kevin came to the Steelers in 1993, he had an immediate impact. Paired with Greg Lloyd, Kevin and Greg led a defense that became known as Blitzburgh, and went on to play in Super Bowl XXX Kevin’s energy and enthusiasm were inspiring for our team as well as our fans.
“My condolences go out to Kevin’s wife Tara, their children and the entire Greene family in this most difficult time,” Rooney also said in the statement. “They will always be members of the Steeler family, and in our thoughts and prayers.”
Greene came from a military family, and his parents were originally from Choccolocco, Ala., and the family came to Granite City after a stint in Germany. Greene developed into a three-sport star for the Warriors, in football, basketball and track, and later followed his older brother, Keith, into the ROTC program at Auburn University, for whom the family was lifetime fans. Greene first walked onto the football team in 1980, but left, only to return to the team in 1983, again as a walk-on. He won a spot on the roster, and in his only official season for the Tigers in 1984, set the school’s single-season sack record with 11, and won the Zeke Smith Award as the team’s top defensive player.
Greene was a fifth-round draft pick of the Rams in 1985, and played for them for seven seasons, through 1992, setting his career-high of 16.5 sacks in both 1988 and 1989. He signed as a free agent with the Steelers in 1993 and played three seasons in Pittsburgh, and played his final four seasons with the Panthers and 49ers, retiring as a player in 1999. While playing for Carolina, he became friends with all-time professional wrestling great Nature Boy Ric Flair, a resident of Charlotte, and briefly wrestled for World Championship Wrestling, the main competitor to the World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment.
Greene interned as a coach for six different NFL teams before becoming the linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers, working for defensive coordinator Dom Capers, who was his head coach for the Panthers. Greene coached for the Packers from 2009-2013, where he won his Super Bowl ring when the Packers defeated the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, then was a linebackers coach for the New York Jets in 2017 and 2018. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Greene also kept in close contact with his high school coach, Jerry McKechan, and his friends from Granite City, regularly donating equipment to the Warriors’ football program, and also came back to give students a pep talk to encourage them to do well in school and follow their dreams. He was also a member of the Granite City Sports Hall of Fame and the Auburn Sports Hall of Fame, and the football field at Granite City High is named in his honor.
Greene is also the only player in the 100-year history of the NFL to have double-digit sacks for four different teams, recording double-seasons in sacks 10 times. He also had seven seasons of double-digit sacks after the age of 30, tying Smith for first all-time in the category, and in his final season with the Panthers, had 12 sacks in 1999.
Upon the news of Greene’s death, tributes began pouring in from his old teammates, opponents, and friends on social media. Granite City-oriented pages on Facebook had tributes and memories of Greene, but one of his quotes, which appeared on the Panthers’ Twitter page, summed up how he approached his career and everything in his life – with hard work, dedication, and passion for both football and life itself.
“I think it was just I kept that hunger, the chip on the shoulder of a walk-on,” Greene said. “I had to scratch and claw for everything I had in life, and to me, it was just about maintaining the commitment to work, to effort, to get where I wanted to go.”
