Former NFL coach Dennis Green dies at 67

Former Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis “Denny” Green passed away Friday morning at the age of 67.

“All of us at the Cardinals are incredibly saddened by the news of Dennis Green’s passing”, Cardinals president Michael Bidwill said in a statement.

Unfortunately, Green’s intense style may have contributed to the corrosion of his relationship with the team’s management and he was ultimately let go, resulting in him moving on to coach the Arizona Cardinals before retiring to the broadcast booth.

It all happened on October 16, 2006, as Green’s Cardinals blew a 20-point lead to the Chicago Bears in one of the most memorable comebacks in Monday Night Football history.

Former Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner, who played for Green and then led the team to Super Bowl XLIII after Green’s departure, Tweeted: “My heart goes out to family of my former coach Denny Green – we lost a good man way too soon!” Green’s death was confirmed by family friend and former agent Ray Anderson, who got the news from Green’s wife Marie.

““Its a loss for the football world, a loss for a lot of young coaches, even the older coaches who he had forged a career with them”, Fuller said. He took great pride in helping assistant coaches advance their careers.

He compiled a 113-94 record in the National Football League in 13 seasons.

With the Texans looking to repeat as AFC South Champions in 2016, they’ll have their work cut out for them early as their star player defensive end J.J. Watt will miss training camp and all of 2016 preseason after undergoing back surgery. He had only one losing season and compiled an overall record of 97-62 in Minnesota, including a 15-1 regular season in 1998 spearheaded by a record-setting offense.

In 1992, the Vikings hired him as their head coach, making him the second African-American to ever hold that position in the NFL. “I lost my mother in April, I feel like I just lost father”, Robert Smith, who was a Vikings running back under Green, posted on Twitter. He made one of the most cherished and lucrative destination jobs in professional sports – National Football League head coach – a possibility for many African-American men who never thought such a chance was real. Green was only the second African-American college head coach in NCAA history at Northwestern and the first in Big Ten history.

And you can’t deny Green’s role in his teams drafting either player.

With Green calling the shots, Elway finished the 1980 season with a 147.2 passer rating and threw for 2,889 yards and 27 touchdowns.

His next head coaching gig was also at the college level when he took over at Stanford University in 1989. Was looking forward to saying thanks at HOF.

According to the NFL, Green’s family asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego.