Iowa Hawkeyes: Shonn Greene Then and Now

Now: Make no mistake. Greene has carried the Jets' offense. In fact, the rookie who recorded 108 attempts in the regular season has been the league's offensive playoff MVP.

"Shonn Greene is maybe one of the most powerful runners that weve seen," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said. "Hes a big, downhill back that can really do a tremendous job of carrying the load an entire game and gets stronger as the game goes on."

Greene leads the NFL with 263 rushing yards in the playoffs, already ranking him third among all Jets backs in career postseason yardage. He has two long touchdown runs of 39 and 53 yards.

"I can't even describe how it feels when you see green grass and the end zone," Greene said after his 53-yard touchdown run proved to be the deciding points in Sunday's road victory over the San Diego Chargers. "It feels like you're in a dream."

The Jets feel the same way when they watch Greene run.

Some viewed Greene as lacking the speed to be a star NFL back, but the rookie's roughneck style has compensated and has made the Jets' front office look brilliant for trading up to take him with the first pick of the third round.

"He has a great burst and runs with vigor and violence," Williamson said. "He is very decisive for a rookie runner and isn't overwhelmed by the speed of the NFL game. He hits a hole with aggression and is very quick to get downhill with little wasted movement. He has the ideal, thick body type for his style of running and packs a lot of power on contact."

Greene also seems to have gotten past the fumble trouble that caused the Jets' coaching staff to lose confidence in him. In a span of six games in November and December, he committed three giveaways.

Then:
Shonn is an amazing player, Iowa defensive tackle Mitch King said. Any time he gets the ball in his hands, it could be six points for our team. Thats great having a player like that. We havent had a player like that since Drew Tate.

Im so happy hes on our team, linebacker Pat Angerer added, because I wouldnt want to be tackling him. Hes a stud.

Greene ran over, through, around and past the Badgers defenders. On his second touchdown run, a 34-yarder that put Iowa (5-3, 2-2 Big Ten) up 14-0 midway though the second quarter, he broke away down the right sideline, spun out of a tackle at the 15 and stepped out of another at the 10.

After Wisconsin cut the lead to 14-9 midway through the third quarter, Greene struck again. He took a handoff on a draw, found a crease and outran the Wisconsin secondary for a 52-yard score.

Not bad for a guy who did not play or practice football last season because he was away at junior college mending his academics.

Shonn has been giving us a spark all season long, coach Kirk Ferentz said. Hes a good story, a good story. Hes come the hard road.

Greene outplayed Wisconsins P.J. Hill, who missed the second half because of an ankle injury. Freshman John Clay led the Badgers (3-4, 0-4) with 89 yards on 16 carries.

Despite his success, Greene is uncomfortable hearing his name mentioned in the same breath as the Heisman. He deflects credit to his offensive linemen, who hardly missed a beat Saturday without starting right guard Seth Olsen, who was out with a severely sprained ankle.

I dont know about all that, Greene said of the Heisman talk. Ill let Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso talk about all that.

Greene says he still needs to improve. He says theres more he can do.

More than 217 yards and four touchdowns? Like what?

Ah, 317 yards and five touchdowns, Greene said. Youve just got to keep going with it. The seasons not over. Were just going to keep on hammering away.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Shonn
• Greene
• Iowa
• Hawkeyes
• Football
• Heisman
• new
• york
• jets
• LT
• play
• offs
• rookie
• touchdown
• kirk
• ferentz
• kirkwood
• doak
• walker
• award

[gooodwoood]

Who was the fag at the beginning

[theroyalpeter]

Mo

Momk mmk o mO

kmk mk.jm moll mn y

Mo mk

[iowadjk7]

fuck Lt he averages like 2 and a half yards a carry

[2steve24]

Then was better

[TKwarrior17]

Tomlinson has really taken over as the Jets' premier back this year. Greene may still be good, but while they have a great like LT he'll be the second-stringer.

[nix207]

the td celebration made it perfect -- "in your face, LT!"

i still like LT and the chargers though...

and now he's with the jets..

now that's exciting

[dannyd1572]

So happy for Shonn. I had the honor of standing on the sidelines and watching up close the magic of his season. And he's still continuing. He's a great guy and his story is what is the idea of what a role model should be. No bling, no rap record, trash talking, attitude...nothing..Just a great player. We should be thankful he spent his magical year with us here in Iowa.

[linnmar86]

whats the song at the beginning?

[letsgomets07]

LETS GO JETSSSSSSSS