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Green To Continue To Wear 'Green And Gold'
by Jeff Fedotin, Packers.com
posted 03/06/2006
Running back Ahman Green re-signed with the Green Bay Packers on Monday, and he expressed excitement about returning to the franchise where he established himself in the NFL.
"I'm glad to be back," Green said. "Green Bay pretty much is where everything started for me."
With NFL labor talks pushing back the start of free agency until Thursday, Green became the Packers' first potential unrestricted free agent to re-sign. By signing a one-year extension with the Packers so quickly, he can begin to master the Packers' new zone blocking scheme being installed by offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.
"For me the sooner the better -- I didn't want to drag it out," Green said. "Now I can focus on rehabbing and getting myself and my head into the playbook."
Green's 2005 season ended when he tore his right quadriceps tendon against the Minnesota Vikings in the Packers' sixth game of the season. Just more than four months removed from surgery, Green claimed to be well ahead of schedule. He rehabilitates three to four hours a day by lifting weights and performing plyometrics to build strength and enable his leg muscles to react more quickly.
"Rehab is going great," Green said. "Physically and mentally I'm ahead of the curve."
Although Green said the team doctors had not cleared him to run, the ninth-year veteran expects to do so in the near future.
"I'm going to start running real soon, which I can't wait for," he said.
Despite averaging a career-low 3.3 yards in just five games last year, Green remained confident he would return to the form he showed while exceeding 1,000 rushing yards from 2000-2004.
"No doubt at all," he said, "my thing right now is just a waiting game."
His waiting game in respect to the 2006 free agent derby has ended. Remaining with the franchise he has played with since 2000 and is identified with was important to Green. He admired how Walter Payton played his entire career with the Chicago Bears, and he remembers his disappointment when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana ended his career with the Kansas City Chiefs.
"You just knew that guy was that team," Green said. "Things of that nature were really stuck in my soul and my mind to really want to be here and finish my career here as a Packer."
With his contract status settled, Green's soul and mind can focus on returning to action. He plans to make up for the lost time in 2005 by dishing out punishment to defenders.
"Whoever hits me for the first time whether practice or game time is not going to like me," Green said. |
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