Cornell Green was born in Boley, Okla. When he graduated from high school in 1957 in Richmond, Calif., the University of Oklahoma was not among the slew of schools that recruited his exceptional basketball talents.
“Oklahoma was recruiting few, if any, African-American kids then,” Green said.
Green, 65, has been a Broncos scout for 18 years.
His retirement last week coincided with the resignation of Oklahoma baseball coach Larry Cochell, who twice used a racial slur in off-camera interviews while describing one of his African-American players.
Green would become an All-America forward at Utah State in Logan.
“You ran into some racism,” Green said. “You knew it was there. You heard it from the crowd, but it came from a big group of people. It was hidden.”
In 1962, he changed sports and signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys. At cornerback and safety, he would earn five trips to the Pro Bowl. He would play through the 1974-75 season in Dallas and in his last five years as a Cowboy became one of the NFL’s first player scouts.
For most of the past 43 years, Green has been involved in pro football in some capacity, much of it with an eye and an angle on the field in front of him matching the perspective on the field behind him.
His view of Cochell and racism in sports is enlightening:
“It’s hard to know what to say about that,” Green said. “I really don’t know the whole story. There is always something underlying a thing like that. I wouldn’t know what to say unless I talked to the people involved.
“I never wanted to make race a big deal. If you’re moving forward, you don’t have the time for that. I never made one little incident that might happen to me a big deal or got upset over it. It doesn’t do you a darn bit of good.”
Many would find that view tired and old-school. I find it progressive, humble. It helps explain why this man lasted so long and was so good in an industry that can be harsh with its scrapes and cuts. He does not condone Cochell’s actions. He says he does not know all the facts, so he is not jumping into the fray.
Like so many others did.
No doubt, this African-American with nearly seven decades on this land has experienced untold battles of prejudice and racism. His oldest brother, infielder Pumpsie Green, provided an example. In 1959, Pumpsie Green became the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, baseball’s last team to integrate.
“There were a bunch of groups that wanted to keep him out in Boston, a lot of big stuff and a lot of motives,” Cornell Green said. “A lot of people that should not have been involved were, and a lot of people that should have been involved were not. That doesn’t teach anybody anything. You shouldn’t have had that type of situation anyhow.”
Green has always been a man who woke up early and worked late. He covered every section of the country for the Broncos over the years, traveling to cities and campuses big and small, always offering the Broncos a grade. Dan Reeves brought him aboard, and Mike Shanahan kept him in tow.
Funny how the busy, the fulfilled, often avoid tricky pitfalls. And influence others.
“I mean, Cornell played in the Ice Bowl game between Dallas and Green Bay,” Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist said. “He has had his stamp on just about everybody we have brought in here. He has seen thousands and thousands of football players. I learned from him. How do you replace his nearly 30 years of scouting relationships and knowledge? You don’t. He opened doors that otherwise would not have been open for our club.”
The last draft included Maurice Clarett.
“I think he is going to surprise a lot of people, and some of them are going to have to take back a few words,” Green said.
His future may include part-time scouting. But not much at all, he said, because it is time to do something else.
“At 65, I don’t have a lot of time to do something else,” he said.
He will still reside in Dallas and make time for his other passions: his family, golf and “betting on the ponies.”
The scouting trip that wowed him most? Jackson State, when he saw Walter Payton for the first time: “He looked like a man playing with kindergartners.”
Green said he never discovered players; he simply did his work and did it with the Broncos’ other scouts and worked toward consensus.
“You work for what you get,” Green said. “Nothing was given to me. I worked for everything I got. I feel lucky. But I didn’t sit on my tail and not give the effort. You know, it’s hard to grade yourself.”
Thomas George can be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
