‘Electric’ lineman made holes for O.J.
Annapolis native was key part of Bills’ offensive line
Donnie Green left Annapolis in1958 at the age of 10. He returned to town in 1998 during a rough patch in life.
An awful lot happened in those 40 years. He blossomed into a big-time football star, earning a scholarship to Purdue University and playing eight seasons at the professional level.
From 1971 through 1976, Green started for the Buffalo Bills and was a member of the fabled “Electric Company” offensive line that led Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson to record-setting rushing numbers.
Now Green will come back to Annapolis one last time next week for a funeral and burial in the community where he spent the early years of his life.
Green died Aug. 28 at the age of 71 due to complications of kidney disease in Hagerstown, the city in western Maryland where he found peace and a sense of purpose over the last 15 years of his life.
“We were all very, very proud of
Donnie. He was the first professional athlete in the family and that made him kind of a celebrity around Annapolis,” said Cheryl Green-Scott, a younger sister. “Every time Donnie came back home he drew a crowd.”
History with the Bills
Buffalo selected Green in the fifth round of the 1971 NFL Draft and he started nine of 14 games at right tackle as a rookie. Lou Saban took over as head coach the following season and made Green the full-time starter as part of an offensive line that featured guards Joe Delamielleure and Reggie McKenzie and included center Bruce Jarvis and left tackle Dave Foley.
That unit was dubbed the Electric Company because it “turned the Juice loose,” Green told The in 2006. Simpson, nicknamed The Juice, set an NFL record by rushing for 2,003 yards in 1973.
Green was the starter at right tackle for all six seasons he was with Buffalo, but injuries took a toll. He was a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1977 and with the Detroit Lions in 1978 before retiring.
Toward the end of his NFL career, Green met his second wife Benita and they settled in Washington, D.C. in 1979. They had four children and were together until 1997. Kristin Dibler, Green’s daughter, has many fond memories of those days.
“My dad truly was the man. Everybody knew him in both D.C. and Annapolis,” Dibler said. “Dad was a great big Teddy Bear – very kind and very tender. He was a great communicator and cared about people. He was real funny and had a great big laugh. He enjoyed watching football and whenever he clapped you thought there were fireworks going off.”
Baltimore Sun
Tough times
By all accounts, the end of his second marriage took a toll on Green, who moved into an apartment off West Street in Annapolis in 1998. Drug use that began with taking painkillers for various football injuries increased during the six-year return to his hometown and ultimately put Green in the hospital.
“Apparently, dad had a downward spiral. I got a call in 2003 that he had been hospitalized and that was the first time the drug issue surfaced,” Dibler said.
Green had two ex-wives and alimony problems to go along with the drugs. At a low point, he sold a gold bracelet inscribed with the words “we did it” and given to him by Simpson.
Having lost the lease on his Annapolis apartment, Green decided to move to a Western Maryland shelter that provided men with temporary housing along with a religion-based recovery program. At 56 years old with financial and emotional woes, he arrived with little more than a suitcase of clothes.
However, the Hagerstown Rescue Mission would wind up saving Green, who told friends and family he truly found God while staying there. He worked as a night watchman at the mission and eventually became a minister.
“Dad always had a really strong faith, but it was definitely strengthened during those first few years up in Hagerstown,” Dibler said. “He began as a participant of the program, graduated from the program then began ministering to the program.”
Green eventually moved out of the Hagerstown Rescue Mission into an apartment on Walnut Street. “Dad had turned the corner and was doing well,” said Dibler, who visited her father several times while he lived in Hagerstown.
Cynthia Carter, the first African-American woman to serve on the Annapolis City Council, said her cousin found his calling in Hagerstown and was uplifted by ministering to men at the shelter.
“We tried to get Donnie to come home to Annapolis, but he felt the Lord had called him to Hagerstown,” said Carter, who traveled with her husband to Western Maryland for a visit with Green. “Donnie was a gentle giant and we were just happy that he was able to reform his life.”
A funeral service for Donnie Green will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 14, at Asbury United Methodist Church, 87 West St. There will be a viewing for an hour prior to the service and Green will be buried at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Annapolis.