Former Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green died at the age of 67 Friday morning of cardiac arrest. His decade at the helm of the Minnesota Vikings provided an electrifying offense that was the most exciting team in franchise history, which shattered National Football League scoring records.
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Green coached in the National Football League for 13 seasons; nine seasons with the Minnesota Vikings from 1992-2001 where he led the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game in 1998 and 2000.
Most of Green’s success as a head coach came before joining the Cardinals during 10 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. However, Green did contribute to the evolution of the Cardinals over the few seasons after he left the team, due to some excellent drafting while he was in charge. Through it all, Green worked hard to provide opportunities for minorities on his coaching staffs and was beloved by his players for the loyalty he showed them.
After several years of gaining experience with different major colleges as an assistant, Green got his first head coaching job in 1981 at Northwestern University, a school that had lost 31 of its last 33 games.
“Dennis Green created an outstanding environment for his players and I was privileged to spend four great years under his guidance in Minnesota”, said Del Rio, in a statement.
Family friend and former agent Ray Anderson confirmed the death to ESPN’s Adam Schefter after speaking with Green’s wife.
But the Vikings were upset at home by the Atlanta Falcons that season and also were embarrassed by the New York Giants 41-0 in their other trip to the NFC title game after the 2000 season.
A coach that will be missed by Vikings fans everywhere.
In his ten seasons as head coach, the Vikings made eight playoff appearances.setting a high standard for all the coaches taking the helm after him. His coaching career started in 1973 as an assistant at Dayton where he was able to earn US$6,000 annually. At the time he was only the second African American head coach in Division 1-A history. He was sacked in 2006 with a 16-32 overall record.
The number of yards that Larry Fitzgerald, who the Cardinals used the 2004 No. 3 overall pick on, has in his career. He was 67 years old.
During the news conference announcing his departure from the Vikings, Green used another phrase that is often sprinkled into conversation.
Of course, many remember Green’s final season in Arizona in 2006 for a Monday night loss to Chicago, when the Bears returned two late fumbles and a punt for touchdowns to rally from a 20-point deficit. There was never a tiresome moment with Denny Green. “Coach Green is going to be missed dearly by everyone that was lucky enough to know him”. These were the team’s best finishes in the respective categories in Green’s three seasons.
Players are not the only ones who got to know Green.
This marks the second former Cardinals head coach to pass away this summer, following the death of Buddy Ryan in June. “We express our deepest sympathy to his family and his many friends”. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the Boys and Girls Club of San Diego.
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“There were a couple of reasons why I hired him”, former Vikings president Roger Headrick said.
