A legend is raised
On Feb. 2, Jacob Green, former All-American and All-Pro defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco, TX.
The Hall of Fame embodies the most prolific athletes in the state of Texas, preserving the legacies of highly decorated athletes, coaches and sports media figures who will forever leave their footprint in sports history.
I attended the ceremony with my father who played football in college with Jacob Green. I was humbled and honored to be in the same room as the legends that stood before me. At the meet-and-greet before the banquet, I had to remind myself that I wasn’t a kid anymore.
Green grew up in Pasadena, TX and played football at Kashmere High school in Houston, TX where the student population was 87 percent African-American and 40 percent of the students didn’t make it to their senior year.
“I came upon a hard road. I could have swung either way,” said Green. “I could have been on the street selling dope like a lot of my buddies. I could have been stealing and doing the things that weren’t the right thing to do but guess what, I had a mom and a dad who watched me.”
Green said that his parents were positive influences on him as a child and made sure that he was always headed down the right path. Green attributes his mother as being his anchor and rock while saying his father taught him how to “be a man” and made him go to work with him after football practice every day.
When Green’s name was called to accept his induction at the banquet, he didn’t forget to pay homage to those who had got him there.
“My parents, family, my principals and my coaches have a small piece of what you see today and I hope its OK,” Green said humbly at the podium during his acceptance speech.
Green was part of an eight-person Texas Sports Hall of Fame induction class that also included former New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, former All-Pro Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman, Larry Allen, former Chicago Bears/St. Louis Cardinals (1) offensive lineman Ken Gray, former University of Texas football coach, Fred Akers, former Texas basketball and Milwaukee Bucks point guard, T.J. Ford, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world champion, Trevor Brazile, and Lincoln Giants pitcher “Smokey” Joe Williams.
My father, Jon Van Sant, lived a sheltered life and never knew the struggles that lied beyond his own back fence. He attended Texas A&M and, like Green, was a highly recruited defensive end. Green took his own life experiences, his mother’s wisdom and father’s work ethic and mentored my father.
Today, I stand testament to the positive influences people can have on one another. My father named me after Jacob Green. I couldn’t be more honored to carry the name of the man that influenced so many and the man who is enshrined in Texas sports history.
Editor’s note: (1) The St. Louis Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1987.
