Former LSU, NFL wide receiver enjoys giving back

Published: Monday, July 22, 2013 at 11:27 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, July 22, 2013 at 11:27 a.m.

Skyler Green is a happy guy.

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Former LSU football player Skyler Green was in Thibodaux recently for the Pro Football Combine camp.

Benjamin Oliver Hicks/Staff

Green, who was born in Houma and is a former LSU Tigers football player and had stints with several professional teams, was in Thibodaux recently for the Pro Football Combine camp, and he was having a very good time.

"I'm always in a good mood doing stuff like this," Green said of counseling and coaching youngsters at the camp. "I remember being in this situation back in the day, going to football camps and trying to get people to recognize that I was a football player. This is a great opportunity to give back."

Green, 28, has a wealth of experience to draw upon. The L.W. Higgins graduate went on to play for LSU, where he was named 2005 SEC Special Teams Player of the Year and picked up all-American honors from ESPN and Sports Illustrated.

Green's biggest moment as a Tiger came in 2003 when he made a diving catch with less than 2 minutes to go to beat Georgia, a game that sent LSU to the SEC Championship game and eventually the national championship.

Green was also a member of the previous year's "Bluegrass Miracle" team, when Devery Henderson caught a "Hail Mary" to beat Kentucky as Wildcat fans were storming the field, thinking they had beaten the Tigers.

Green wasn't on the field for the play, but made it to the post-catch celebration. He barely made it out.

"I ended up on the bottom of the pile," he said laughing. "I couldn't breathe for about 2 minutes."

Green was drafted in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys, the beginning of a professional career that, despite a few impressive performances, never really took off.

"When I got into the league, I never really found a spot," he said. "Coach (Bill) Parcells kept switching me back and forth from running back to receiver, running back to receiver. My weight kept fluctuating, and I kind of got lost in the numbers. It didn't really work out in Dallas. They cut me three times, but kept bringing me back and I ended up on the practice squad."

A similar situation played out in Cincinnati, where Green made the roster but ended up being cut and re-signed to the practice squad.

From the Bengals, Green moved to the hometown Saints, where again he was cut and signed to the practice squad. He did make it onto the roster for the last two games of the 2008 season, where he returned kickoffs for a 33 yard average.

Green said playing for the Saints was a special thrill.

"Playing for the Saints was really something special," he said. "Playing for your home team, there's really nothing better than that. I played in front of people who had been following my career since high school. It kind of made you hold your head up high."

After a stint with the Edmonton Eskimos, Green wound up the Arena League, playing for another hometown team, the New Orleans Voodoo. In his first game, he scored five touchdowns.

"The field is 50 yards shorter," he said. "I'm kind of a quick acceleration guy, and that helped me create separation. Being in motion all the time helped me a lot. I got used to that in Canada, being that those guys are in motion all the time. In Canada, everybody who's not on the ball can be in motion. But being in the Arena League was fun. I got knocked over the wall a couple of times, so I feel like my body has a couple of badges. But it was fun."

Green is currently a free agent and is seeking a new agent after his long-time agent, Albert Elias, died in December.

"This camp was my agent's camp," he said. "So I'm looking for new representation, someone who can get me one more shot in the league before it's too late."

At 28, Green says he's been thinking about life after football. He currently works as a personal trainer, and says coaching is a definite possibility.

"I'm probably going to be a coach one day," he said. "I'm not sure if I want to start at the college level or the high school level. I've had a lot of high school coaches wanting me to come coach for them, but I told them there's a lot of time left. I want to be sure that I'm done playing so I can devote myself fully to the job and give 100 percent to those guys."

Source: http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20130722/sports/130729913

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