Rod Green has always dreamed of playing Division I college football.
Like many other athletes his ultimate dream is to play in the National Football League. Grambling has provided Green, a three-star recruit from Dayton, Ohio, with the opportunity to fulfill one of his lifelong dreams of playing Division I football.
The 325-pound, 6’4” offensive lineman played prep football at Springfield High School in Dayton, Ohio. He is a freshman.
Coming to Grambling State University is Green’s first experience away from home.
“It feels different being so far from Ohio, sometimes I find myself kind of sad because I’m so far away from home. Especially on the weekends when everyone leaves to visit their family. Living 13 hours away from my family becomes very challenging at times.” Green said.
Green said getting acclimated to the heat in the South has been a challenge.
“The weather is much hotter out here in Louisiana that by far was the biggest thing to adjust to. I’ve been here since July and I’ve experienced at least 3 different types of weather. It has been extremely hot, one day it was a hurricane outside. It could be sunny one minute and storming the next literally,” Green said.
Green’s fall camp and practice went well despite some practices being canceled due to bad weather.
“It's been going good, taking a minute to get adjusted too. Considering I’m a freshman I believe I’m doing really well out there. Everyday we are working. I get to go out and compete with my brother everyday to make us at least 1% better each day . I am excited for the season. Nobody understands how hard we have been putting work and I'm just ready to see it pay off,” Green said.
Green said a lot is expected of him being a transfer coming from a bigger school.
“I mean transfers are a part of college football, I believe they could bring special things to our offense, especially with new offensive coaching staff this year. Grambling should definitely be a problem in the SWAC. I look forward to playing with them and taking Grambling to the next level,” he said.
Green said he chose Grambling in spite of having a variety of other offers including Eastern Kentucky,Arkansas Pine Bluff and Missouri State According to 247 sports.
“Because why not Grambling , I’ve always wanted to get the HBCU experience especially coming from up north. We don't really have a lot of HBCUs. When I took my visit to Grambling everything just made me feel so welcomed like I was home. So again whenever someone asks why I chose Grambling my answer will forever be ‘Why Not Grambling?’” Green said.
“Well coming out of high school as a three star recruit I feel like I could bring a lot to Grambling Football. Playing offensive line, I’m very explosive off the ball which is a good thing, though I’m young and still have to adjust to playing college football I believe once I get the hang off things I will definitely dominate on the offensive side of the ball for us,” Green said.
Green hopes to become a key player for the G-Men as his career continues and he is already off to a good start.
Green first announced his decision to come join the G-Men in February.
According to WRGT in Dayton Ohio, he wanted to join the program due to its prestige among HBCUs.
“I feel like going to an HBCU is a movement and I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to also encourage other kids that you can go to HBCUs because you can go to the NFL from anywhere if you put your mind to it. I just know that Grambling is one of the best HBCU's in the nation,” Green told WRGT-TV at the time.
Rod Green