Home Field Advantage with Trent Green

Football was not Trent’s first love — it was basketball. “I thought that’s what I would play in college,” he says. His first football game was in the backyard with a Sears catalog helmet, jersey and shoulder pads. He played 7th-grade football, but in 8th grade the starting quarterback broke his collarbone and Trent’s real journey began.

“I didn’t want to play quarterback,” Trent says, “so I didn’t volunteer. I wanted to play wide receiver like my brother.” What the coach didn’t know was that Trent had been honing his throwing skills in the backyard while his brother was running routes.

“My dad told the coach, ‘Hey, you should take a look at him, he can throw.’ Reluctantly, I played the position and fell in love with it,” Trent recalls.

Trent excelled through high school and earned a scholarship to Indiana University. He looked at prestigious football programs including Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Big 12 schools, Big Ten schools and Pac-10 schools. Choosing the right college for a business degree was paramount, as he knew the odds of playing in the NFL were rare.

“My parents provided for us, but it wasn’t like I could go to whatever school I wanted,” Trent says. “I figured out that through athletics I could get a good college education.”

Trent met his wife, Julie, during their junior year. They have now been married 17 years.

“I thought he was cute,” Julie says. “I asked him to a sorority dance, and being the gentleman he is, he called me and said we needed to get to know each other better before the dance.”

After a successful college football career, he was the 222/224 overall NFL pick by the San Diego Chargers in 1993. He was in the pros, but his work ethic would be put to the test. It wasn’t until 1998, with the Washington Redskins, that he became the starting quarterback.

“That was my thing, especially during my years in Washington,” Trent says. “If I got a chance to play, I had better be ready to lead. I wasn’t a first-round guy. Whenever I did get my chance, I was ready to go. Every game, I went into it like I was the starter.”

Trent knew players who said they prepared, but he says many of them didn’t actually do it. He did.

“When we were first married, I would give Julie the game plan,” Trent says. “She would be in the kitchen yelling out plays and I would be in the other room with the grease board drawing them out.”

His big break came in 1999. It was the role every boy dreams of — a starting NFL quarterback with his hometown team (St. Louis Rams) under Coach Vermeil. The stage was set. Expectations were high, but a hit to the knee in a preseason game ended Trent’s season.

“I kind of rolled over and took my helmet off,” Trent says. “I put my hands on my face. It had taken me so long to get to this place. I knew right away I was out for the season before I hit the turf. I felt like in a matter of those few seconds, all of that hard work and all of the struggles and everything else I put into it was gone. My dad was right there with me in the locker room and on the way to the hospital the whole time.”

Trent watched his Rams, led by quarterback Kurt Warner, win the Super Bowl that year. Vermeil retired, and Trent endured four surgeries and grueling rehab and returned the next season as a backup.

“My driving force was that I didn’t want that to be my defining moment,” he says. “Julie was pregnant with Derek, so what really got me through was her and my two-year old (T.J.). Coach Vermeil came out of retirement and I went to the Chiefs.”

In Kansas City, Trent found his niche. His stats were impressive, but Trent remembers the team and Vermeil as the highlights.

“They are what made those years special,” Trent says. “That’s what you want — guys that like spending time together. They want to work. It’s when you know you really have it, in football, when you come into the huddle, and you look to your right and your left, and you know that guy has done a good job. You know you can count on him to be prepared. They’ve studied; you know their work ethic. It was also Coach Vermeil.”

Trent and Vermeil share a mutual respect.

“He cares about players as people,” Trent says. “He takes a lot of heat about showing his emotions, but players respond to that because they know he cares. People on the outside interpret the emotion and think he wasn’t demanding. That’s wrong. We had long practices and meetings. He had expectations of what we should be as players and as a team. Players responded to that because we didn’t want to let him down or our teammates down. He is such a special person, and I’m glad he’s part of my life.”

“The team had great respect for Trent,” Vermeil says. “The coaches had great respect for him, and I loved him. We ran one of the most sophisticated offenses in the NFL, and I never remember him making a mental mistake.”

Football fans also showed respect and admiration for Trent.

“It meant a lot to me when someone would come up to me and tell me they named their son after me, or when people tell me they have my jersey at home. It’s very humbling,” Trent says.

Julie’s family showed their support for Trent, even when they couldn’t travel to away games.

“My whole family would be together at my parents’ house,” she says. “If my brother didn’t shave and they won, he isn’t shaving. If my dad was eating a bowl of chili when Trent scored a touchdown, he has to keep eating chili. Or if we went a couple of series without scoring, everybody would get up and rotate their seats.”

Trent’s time in Kansas City became bittersweet when he lost his dad during the 2005 season. Father and son loved to talk football. The loss was devastating for Trent. Vermeil asked him if he wanted to play that week, and his response was, “I definitely do. My dad would want me to.”

“Family was very important to my dad,” Trent says. “He was always there to support me. He and my mom both were. He was so excited about the upcoming birth of our daughter, his first granddaughter. The boys remember him and tell Janelle about him. I want them to remember that he was a good guy.”

After suffering a severe concussion in 2006, Trent was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2007. He was let go in 2008 after suffering a second serious concussion. He returned to the St. Louis Rams for a year, then was released and retired in 2009.

He had tested his broadcasting skills while still playing when he guest hosted for CBS on NFL Today and with ESPN for the NFL draft.

“My first experience with CBS was great,” Trent says. “Deion Sanders, Jim Nantz, Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason — we all sit around on Sunday, watch all the games and talk football. I was like, I can do that!”

After retiring, Trent broadcasted games for FOX and Total Access (NFL Network) in 2009. In 2010, he continued with Total Access, and also worked with Westwood One Radio. With broadcasting, Trent still prepares, but now he can draw on his experience of the game.

“I just kind of roll,” he says. “I know the topics, but I don’t tell them what I am going to talk about. I may have bullet points with stats, but no scripts and no teleprompters. It’s much different than the days of the grease boards.”

The Greens and their three children (T.J., 13, Derek, 11, and Janelle, 5) are the definition of the All-American family. Trent still sports his boyish good looks and has a welcoming smile. He and Julie finish each other’s sentences, and she is a blonde beauty who talks adoringly about her husband and their children. They are adjusting to life in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after leaving Kansas City. Julie’s family is there, and they are enjoying reconnecting with friends and settling into a routine of kids’ sports, dance and cheer. Family time is foremost, and Trent and his wife realize the importance of teaching their children honorable values.

“My parents taught us a strong work ethic,” Trent says. “We try to share stories and experiences with our kids. I have more than I did growing up, but we don’t want to just give them everything.”

Trent has demonstrated this by his involvement with charities. He started the Trent Green Family Foundation. He and Julie have worked with the Ronald McDonald House Charities, various hospitals and the YMCA. Trent will return to the Lake area as Honorary Chair of the 33rd Annual HK’s Hospital Benefit Golf Tournament June 3-5 at the Lodge of the Four Seasons.

“When I was in Kansas City, it was kind of a Rams vs. Chiefs thing,” Trent says. “The day before the HK’s tournament, they would do a battle of I-70. I sent auction items to Susan Brown when I was with the Chiefs, and she was always fun to work with. Now I am privileged to be the honorary chair, helping to raise money for the Lake Regional Hospital. The Lake of the Ozarks is a great place and served as a perfect location for our past family reunion. I also do a golf tournament for my foundation in Kansas City.”

Together, the Greens have built a strong family foundation. A typical day involves picking the kids up from school, getting them to practices, and homework. A perfect date night is going to dinner and catching up on conversation.

“Recently, we realized that we’ve passed the threshold where we have been together longer than we haven’t been together,” Trent says of Julie.

Trent doesn’t know what the future holds.

“It depends on what direction I go with broadcasting. This opportunity came along, but for how long?” Trent says. “From a coaching standpoint, that may be more of a possibility because I played for a long time and hopefully a lot of those people will still be around.” Trent passed on coaching after his playing career, as too many coaches told him he would miss out on his children’s activities. But football is in his blood.

“I miss everything about it,” he says. “I miss the whole thing. I miss the competitiveness. I miss the camaraderie. I miss game day. All the players thought I was nuts, but my favorite part of every day was practice.”

Trent had a special mentor in Vermeil, and Vermeil realizes the caliber of the man he coached.

“I’ve coached for 31 years,” Vermeil says. “I’m not supposed to have favorites, but the first name that comes to mind is Trent Green. He is a special person, a very fine person. He was a very fine player, and he is an extremely bright guy. Everything he does, he is so conscientious.”

Maybe someday, Julie and Janelle will be in the stands watching Trent coach the boys’ football team. One thing is for sure, Trent will always be a natural around family and football.

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