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QB Cornelius Greene (1974 Rose Bowl MVP, 1975 Big Ten MVP)

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Buckskin86

Buckskin86

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Dispatch

Ex-Buckeye marvels at what Smith achieved
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

While Cornelius Greene watched Troy Smith’s dream 2006 season, the pride he felt was tempered by a tinge of what-if?
As in, "What if I had been born 15 or 20 years later? "
Greene became Ohio State’s first black starting quarterback in 1973, helping the school win or share three Big Ten titles. Smith recently capped off a marvelous career in which he went 25-3 as a starter and led the Buckeyes to the national championship game.He won the Heisman Trophy and is expected to be a first-day NFL draft pick.

Cont'd...
 
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"Flam!"
The red shoes were the bomb!
:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

greene.jpg

Quarterback Cornelius Greene led Ohio State to victory in the the 1974 Rose Bowl vs. USC. (Photo courtesy of Ohio State University Athletics)
 
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The other speaker was Cornelius Greene, quarterback at Ohio State University from 1972 through 1975, who now works as a parks manager in his hometown of Washington, D.C.

Greene earned four Rose Bowl rings with the Buckeyes under coach Woody Hayes, and was Ohio State?s first black quarterback.

Canfield resident Chris Cole, a friend of Greene?s, introduced the 54-year-old as possibly OSU?s best quarterback.

Greene said he learned some of his most important lessons in life during his first three months at Ohio State, when he roomed with wingback Brian Baschnagel.

Baschnagel came from a mostly white community, and Greene grew up where 95 percent of the residents were black.

?I had all these stereotypes of how I was going to be treated. But none of that happened,? Greene said of rooming with Baschnagel and living at OSU. ?Everybody loved me.?

Among the highlights of Greene?s career was being selected team and Big 10 most valuable player in 1975, getting selected even over two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, who had been league MVP the two previous years. He later played two seasons in the National Football League with the Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets.
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Mayor shares views at Leadership Day - Vindy.com News - Local & Regional News - Youngstown, Warren, Columbiana, Ohio
 
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Best High School Player You've Seen

By Leonard Shapiro
I also covered a Dunbar football game that year or the next and watched a quarterback named Cornelius Green dominate the game. His wore red shoes, had red tassles on his shoe laces and, if I'm not mistaken, a red headband under his helmet. He was a fabulous option quarterback who also played defense, and in the paper the next day, I called him a "flamboyant flim-flam man."
The next week, he had taped the word "flamboyant" on the front of his helmet and it was later shortened to "Flam," the nickname he took with him to Ohio State, where he became the first African American to start at quarterback for the Buckeyes.
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FIRST BLACK PLAYER TO START AT QUARTERBACK FOR OHIO STATE!
michele ann by

CORNELIUS GREENE 1-21-54 WASHINGTON, D.C. 6"0' 170 QUARTERBACK WORE NUMBER 7

CORNELIUS GREENE PLAYED UNDER LEGENDARY COACH WOODY HAYES. HE WAS THE FIRST BLACK-AMERICAN TO START AT QUARTERBACK AT OHIO STATE, AND HE RECEIVED MANY DEATH THREATS FROM ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE KU KLAX KLAN, HOWEVER, THESE THREATS SUBSIDED WHEN GREENE PROVED HIMSELF TO BE AN AMAZING PLAYER, BOTH ON AND OFF OF THE FOOTBALL FIELD.

GREENE FACED ADVERSITY ALL HIS LIFE. HIS FATHER IS BLIND. HE HAS FOUR SISTERS AND THREE BROTHERS HELPING HIS MOTHER IN A WASHINGTON, D.C. GHETTO.

WHEN HIS SOPHOMORE SEASON BEGAN HE HAD UNSEATED SENIOR INCUMBENT AND CO-CAPTAIN GREG HARE TO BECOME OHIO STATE'S FIRST BLACK QUARTERBACK.

HE ACCEPTED THE PRESSURE AND THE CRITICISM ALL SEASON MORE LIKE A SENIOR THAN A SOPHOMORE.

DESPITE HIS PASSING ABILITY, GREENE WAS CONSIDERED A SCRAMBLING QUARTERBACK AT DUNBAR HIGH IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AND THIS ABILITY TO AVOID LOSES ADDED ANOTHER DIMENSION TO THE OHIO STATE OFFENSE.

EIGHTY SCHOOLS SOUGHT HIS TALENTS, BUT OHIO STATE WAS THE FIRST MAJOR COLLEGE "AND THEY WANTED ME AS A STUDENT AS MUCH AS AN ATHLETE."

HE SPURNED BASKETBALL OFFERS (25-POINT AVERAGE AS SENIOR) AS WELL AS AN INFIEDLER, BUT I WANTED AN EDUCATION.

IN 1976 CORNELIUS GREENE SIGNED AS A FREE AGENT WIDE RECEIVER WITH THE EXPANSION SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, HE WAS RELEASED AFTER THE LAST PRE-SEASON GAME.

AFTER SEATTLE RELEASED HIM, GREENE BRIEFLY WENT TO THE CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE AND THEN SEMI-PRO BALL IN COLUMBUS, OHIO BEFORE MOVING BACK TO HIS HOMETOWN OF WASHINGTON, D.C. IN 1982.

HE LIVES THERE NOW, WORKING FOR THE CITY AND MANAGING A RECREATION CENTER. HE HAS TWO KIDS, ONE OF WHICH IS PLAYING BASKETBALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT (2007) JASON GREENE.

IN 1998, HE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE OHIO STATE ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME, HE WAS THE SCHOOL'S FIRST BLACK QUARTERBACK.

GREENE IS NO.43 ON OHIO STATE'S ALL TIME GREATEST.

STARTER AT QUARTERBACK 73-75

BIG TEN MVP 1975

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES FOOTBALL SEASON MVP 1975

ROSE BOWL MVP 1974
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FIRST BLACK PLAYER TO START AT QUARTERBACK FOR OHIO STATE! | Bleacher Report
 
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cornygreenejpg-cb8b6d5522403b7d_small.jpg

Gary Housteau / Bucknuts.com
"I was shocked when I was voted the MVP," said OSU's Rose Bowl hero Cornelius Greene. "I came home and they had Cornelius Greene Day in Washington on Jan. 4 and I got the key to the city."

The memories: From Cornelius Greene, the sophomore quarterback who was named MVP after throwing for 129 yards and rushing for 45 and the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter: "The night before the game, I used to try to play the game in my mind, and I saw myself playing well. Of course, I didn't see myself throwing an interception on the first pass of the game like I did, but I overcame that mistake. I was 19 years old, my sophomore year, playing on national TV, everyone back in my hometown of Washington, D.C., was watching, and then you have the game of your life. I was shocked when I was voted the MVP. I came home and they had Cornelius Greene Day in Washington on Jan. 4 and I got the key to the city. To be 19 years old and get all these accolades, it's just mind-blowing. And it all seems like yesterday.

"I think we should have been the No. 1 team, even though we had tied Michigan. We were the No. 1 team the whole year, and we tied Michigan and we beat a great USC team.

"Coaches elsewhere might loosen up, but Coach Hayes never loosened up. Coach Hayes always had our nose to the grindstone getting us ready for the game. I was four-for-four playing in Rose Bowls, so I ended up getting a lot of friends out there. We did have some free time after practice. So I had a great time in terms of the trip. And then my parents flew from D.C. to California, so that was a great escape for them.

"And then right after the Rose Bowl game, it was almost like a countdown to Michigan again."
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Buckeyes Rose Bowl Rewind: A rematch provides some much coveted redemption in 1974 | Ohio State Buckeyes - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny9fyl4bVWg"]YouTube- 1974 Rose Bowl: Ohio State v. USC (Drive-Thru)[/ame]
 
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Rob Oller commentary: Greene, Franklin proud they paved way
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
By Rob Oller
The Columbus Dispatch

oller-11-24-art0-gv8ammtb-1cornelius-greene---see-restrictions-on-use-.jpg

Dispatch file photo
Cornelius Greene became Ohio State's first black starting quarterback in 1973. He still holds the school career record for quarterback rushing yards with 2,066.

The Ohio State and Michigan quarterbacks arrived at their respective schools in 1970s velour and bellbottom style.

The Buckeyes' Cornelius Greene sported a monstrosity of an afro he fit inside his helmet like a camper stuffing a sleeping bag back into its cover. He was "Flam 7," the flamboyant kid from Washington, D.C., who drove a trimmed out white Pontiac Grand Prix modified to resemble a Lincoln Continental.

Dennis Franklin showed up in Ann Arbor all smoothness and long sideburns, a king of cool in a progressive city where getting busted for smoking dope earned you only the equivalent of a parking ticket.

You couldn't miss either one of them, on campus but even more on the field, where black quarterbacks stood out with all the oddity of a Peter Maxx painting. For decades, African Americans had held other positions at Ohio State and Michigan, but not until 1972 did the Wolverines break precedent by starting Franklin at quarterback.

Greene became the Buckeyes' first black starting quarterback a year later, making the 1973 Ohio State-Michigan game historic for more than the 10-10 tie and ensuing controversial vote that sent the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl ahead of the Wolverines. Never before had two black quarterbacks faced off in The Game. Never before had two black quarterbacks appeared on national television.
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http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...ne-franklin-proud-they-paved-way.html?sid=101
 
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