Jets’ Greene worked his way from warehouse to NFL

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Sports Writer 9 hours, 12 minutes ago

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP)—Shonn Greene’s mind drifted a few times while he unloaded trucks and assembled furniture in a store warehouse in Iowa.

He couldn’t help it. His NFL dreams never included couches, La-Z-Boys and dining room sets.

“I didn’t let it get the best of me,” the New York Jets’ third-round draft pick said.

The big, bruising running back was as far from a football field as one could be two summers ago. Greene was working at McGregor’s Furniture in Coralville, Iowa, and making $8 an hour after being ruled academically ineligible at the University of Iowa.

He used the money from the heavy lifting to pay for his tuition at Kirkwood Community College, where he worked on improving his grades.

“Shonn didn’t talk about it much,” said Rebecca Fried, the warehouse service manager who hired Greene in the summer of 2007. “He’s just a very soft-spoken person and he doesn’t like to talk about himself. He wasn’t where he wanted to be at the time, so he wasn’t ready to talk about it. He was just trying to fix it.”

After two years as a backup at Iowa, Greene appeared ready to step into the Hawkeyes’ starting lineup. Then came the news that his poor grades would keep him off the field.

Greene stayed positive even during those Saturdays when he was holding hammers instead of footballs.

“I had my mind set that this is what I was going to do and this is how I was going to get there,” Greene said. “I basically followed the game plan and worked by that.”

Greene, from Sicklerville, N.J., worked at McGregor’s until Christmas 2007 before he headed home. Fried left the door open for Greene to come back when he got back.

He didn’t need to. Greene got his grades up, re-enrolled at Iowa and got another shot with the Hawkeyes.

“He came in last June and showed up at the door and I was like, ‘Oh, are you back?”’ Fried recalled. “And he said, ‘No. I’m starting.”’

When Greene got back to Iowa, he was sixth on the depth chart at running back. Undeterred, the 5-foot-11, 225-pound Greene bulldozed his way into the starting lineup.

He rushed for a school-record 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns, was selected the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year and won the Doak Walker Award as the country’s top running back. He capped a big season by rushing for three touchdowns in a 31-10 win over South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. Shortly after the victory, Greene announced he was entering the draft.

“It was just the moment of the bowl game,” Greene said. “We had a great win, everybody was happy and stuff and I just felt like it was right at that time.”

Greene would’ve been a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy if he stayed at Iowa, a possibility he considered before choosing the NFL.

“It was like a gut feeling with the production I had,” he said. “It was just a dream. Everybody dreams of playing in the NFL if you’re into football. That opportunity was there and I decided to take it.”

The Jets traded up with the Detroit Lions to get the first pick of the third round and jumped on Greene with thoughts of teaming him with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington in their backfield.

“He’s a pretty good player,” said quarterback Mark Sanchez, the team’s first-round pick. “Sharp kid, good hands. I mean, when he’s running into that pile, look out. Give him the ball as deep as you can and watch him run and meet him in the end zone. He’s a stud.”

Greene has been impressive in rookie minicamp, barreling his way through defenders and showing a good burst.

“I love the way guys bounce off him,” coach Rex Ryan said between practices Saturday. “He comes rolling in there, guys are going flying. Guys are trying to tag him, his teammate went flying today, bounced off him.”

Ryan also provided visual proof, whipping out a photo of Greene taking off on a run after flattening Blake Hoerr, the team’s director of grounds, who was holding the padded blocking bag.

“He hits that hole and you say, ‘Man, that’s a big man coming through there,”’ Ryan said. “He runs low. He’s a big ol’ rascal.”

Ryan also pointed out a weakness in Greene’s game: While defenders bounce off him, so do some passes.

“Sanchez throws him a pass and it just banged off of him and Mark says, ‘Sorry, I should have put that on the other shoulder,”’ Ryan said. “And he responded, ‘I just don’t catch very well.” At least the kid’s honest. Those are things we can work on.”

Greene acknowledged that there have been moments he’s been able to think about those days when he could only dream of playing football.

“But not too much,” he said with a big smile. “We’ve got this big playbook that’s kind of stopping me from thinking about stuff like that. I have at times, and it’s just a great accomplishment.”

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-jets-greene&prov=ap&type=lgns