Ex-NFL coach Green dies at 67

Dennis Green, an NFL head coach with the Vikings and Cardinals, passed away at the age of 67.

Green died Thursday night from complications of cardiac arrest.

“His family was by his side and he fought hard,” Green’s family said in a statement.

Green was the named Vikings coach in 1992, and he remained with Minnesota through 2001. His best season came in 1998, when the Vikings went 15-1 and lost in the NFC Championship Game to the Falcons.

He spent three years as the Cardinals’ coach, from 2004-06, a stint best remembered for his postgame speech following a loss to the Bears in 2006 in which Arizona blew a 20-point lead. The speech, highlighted by Green saying, “They are what we thought they were,” was celebrated in a television commercial for Coors and countless parodies.

Green most recently coached the Sacramento Mountain Lions in the United Football League from 2009-11.

Born Feb. 17, 1949, in Har- risburg, Pa., Green was a running back for Iowa University and played briefly in the CFL before getting into coaching. His first job came in 1971 as an assistant coach with Dayton. He rose through the ranks, and became Stanford’s head coach in 1989.