Dad was a versatile tight end, but his son plays the outfield
DENVER — Former Steelers tight end Eric Green worried that his son, Elijah, was making an emotional decision by quitting football. As it turned out, Elijah Green knew exactly what he was doing.
When Elijah was 13, his AAU football team, the Apopca (Fla.) Raptors, had suffered a crushing loss in the national championship game. Having won four titles in the previous six seasons, the older Green figured this was just his eighth-grade son getting upset over a rare loss.
“I let him take a couple of weeks to think about it, then I brought it back up to him,” Eric said. “When I did, he said, ‘Yes, dad. That’s what I want to do.’
“So that’s what we went with.”
Fast forward a couple of years, and the move appears to be paying off. Now a fulltime baseball player, the athletic outfielder has emerged as one of the top players available for the 2022 MLB draft and a potential option for the Pirates, assuming they pick early again.
That would mean a lot to the entire Green family. Not only because Eric was a firstround pick of the Steelers in 1990, making the Pro Bowl twice and playing 10 NFL seasons as a big-bodied, versatile tight end, but because the family still has roots in the city.
Eric and Leslie Green met and married during his Steelers days. Although Elijah wasn’t born until well after his dad had retired, much of his mom’s family still resides in North Versailles, where Leslie grew up. Eric has been to only one Steelers game since his playing days ended, but coming back for a game at Heinz Field is “on our bucket list.”
“I love Pittsburgh,” Elijah said. “It’s such a great place. It would be a really cool place to play. I really like PNC Park.”
The older Green wouldn’t mind the Pirates one day drafting Elijah, although he said he hasn’t spent a bunch of time thinking about it.
“That,” Eric said, “would be a great place for him.”
‘I know he’s happy’
Given Elijah’s prospect pedigree, it’s doubtful Pirates fans would object. Listed at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, Elijah has had throws from the outfield clocked at 95plus mph, while his 60-yard dash time — baseball’s equivalent to football’s 40 — has been measured as low as 6.2 seconds.
Couple that blazing speed with a bat that routinely produces exit velocities of 100plus mph, and there’s a lot that scouts like about the younger Green, who’s already committed to play baseball at the University of Miami.
“Green has a well-developed, muscular frame,” Baseball America wrote of Elijah. “What separates him already is an advanced offensive approach. He has shown great understanding of how pitchers will attack him and how he can adjust and respond within at-bats.”
Even though Elijah has wanted to create his own journey, his athletic ability and mature disposition both come from his parents. From an early age, Eric would harp on Elijah about doing the little things — stuff like running out ground balls or never walking between the lines.
Elijah said the most consistent and important piece of his advice his dad gave him was that you never know who’s watching.
“It doesn’t matter what sport I played, I know he’s going to be hard on me,” Elijah said. “But I also know he would never steer me down the wrong path. I always have to listen to him, whatever he has to say.”
It’s not just Eric, either. Initially when Elijah wanted to give up football, he went to Leslie first, which speaks of their closeness. And while Eric played in the NFL, Leslie grew up a diehard Steelers and Pirates fan, understanding what the teams and their players mean to the city.
Couple that with her bluecollar upbringing and Eric’s southern roots, and you get an extremely mature and well- mannered kid, one who’s exceedingly polite and has been raised the right way.
“We’ve tried to teach him to respect others and have manners,” Leslie said. “We’ve taught him the importance of stuff like, ‘Yes ma’am, no ma’am.’ We’ve definitely pushed that on him.”
It’s neat to observe the Greens at a baseball showcase like MLB-USA Baseball High School All-American Home Run Derby at Coors Field. While Elijah participated, Eric sat near the concourse level with the livestream on his phone, following along intently with every word that was said about his son.
Down on the field, Elijah was the consummate good teammate. When players called a time out during their three-minute rounds, Elijah was the first to rush up to them with a drink or words of encouragement, fanning them with a towel to create a cool breeze.
“At some point when he was younger, he used to jog out on the field,” Eric said. “He didn’t understand why I used to get on him so much about that. It’s the little things in the game. Now, he sees all those things as he’s growing and maturing.”
Eric calls it a “family affair,” where he and Leslie have made a life out of traveling around to Elijah’s various baseball events, turning the whole thing into an ongoing vacation.
It’s a life few might expect out of a former Steelers tight end and his family but one he finds extremely fulfilling.
“It’s his thing,” Eric said. “We’re here to support him, and I know he’s happy with what he’s doing. He’s having success with it. It’s a family thing for us. We’re relishing the moment, and we’re very proud of him.”
‘His own avenue’
Elijah Green was a quarterback and linebacker when he played football, although he admitted that he wasn’t a huge fan of getting hit. But more than any sort of nuance within the sport, his decision to concentrate on baseball was made for a bigger reason.
“I wanted to do something on my own,” Elijah said. “We were always good at football. I just wanted to choose a different path for myself and make my own name.”
This also wasn’t some outof-the-blue thing. Eric Green grew up playing baseball and loved it. He was a third baseman and swung a pretty good bat, although he said with his upbringing, he chose football because the path to a big contract was not nearly as long.
Because of that, Elijah has been able to have a different view on the game. Although they live in Windermere, Fla., Elijah loves watching Mike Trout of the Angels, for his ability to hit for power and average, to play defense and also throw out runners — the total package.
“I kind of model how he plays the game,” Elijah said.
The hype surrounding Elijah and his place in the draft should increase now that the 2021 iteration is finished. The focal point will become summer showcases, where the younger Green is sure to improve his draft stock. Then comes the 2022 high school season and plenty of speculation of who might take him and whether he’ll want to turn pro.
On the baseball side, Elijah also has his father’s work ethic. He knows he needs to be more consistent and cut his number of strikeouts, an understandable goal for someone his age. He also wants to improve his defense and be a good teammate.
No matter what eventually happens, this much figures to be true: This will be uniquely Elijah’s journey, not something that has anything to do with what his dad accomplished as a professional athlete.
“Me being a first-round draft pick and the expectations coming along with that, with him, it would have probably been too much,” Eric said. “So he took his own avenue, and he’s doing his thing.”