Fansided

Former NFL coach Dennis Green dead at 67

By Josh Hill

21 Oct 2001: Dennis Green, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings during the game against the Green Bay Packers at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota . The Vikings won 35-13. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit: Elsa/Allsport
21 Oct 2001: Dennis Green, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings during the game against the Green Bay Packers at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota . The Vikings won 35-13. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit: Elsa/Allsport /
facebooktwitterreddit

Former Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green has died at the age of 67.

It’s been a rough offseason for the NFL, as another coaching icon is gone. In the wake of losing Buddy Ryan, the NFL community is mourning the sudden and unexpected loss of former head coach Dennis Green.

Green died of cardiac arrest on Friday morning at the still relatively young age of 67.

Green’s death is one of the most unexpected and hardest stories of the NFL offseason. His legacy in the NFL will speak for itself, as his influence graced two different decades in football and he was a part of some of the most memorable moments over the last 20 years.

His coaching tree extends from the teachings of the iconic Bill Walsh and passed through him to the likes of Tony Dungy and Brian Billick — both of whom won a Super Bowl after working under Green.

He’ll be best remembered for coaching the 1998 Minnesota Vikings to the NFC Championship game, or his epic rant after the Arizona Cardinals were beat by the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football in the late 2000s.

But if you only remember him for those things, then you’re grossly overlooking his legacy in the NFL. He turned the Vikings around in the 90s and set them up for their historic season in 1998, creating one of the most consistent string of seasons in Minnesota sports history.

He also set up the Cardinals pretty well starting with his first season in 2004. His first draft class included Larry Fitzgerald, Karlos Dansby and Darnell Dockett.

Aside from this being a horrible loss for the football community, this is also another devastating loss for Minnesota as a state.

Former Timberwolves  head coach Flip Saunders died before the start of the NBA season last year and Prince — who was perhaps the state’s most prized point of pride — died unexpectedly back in April of a drug overdose.

Despite not being from Minnesota, like Prince, or having recently coached there, like Flip, he’s always been a part of the fabric of the sports scene there. He’s was an honorary Minnesotan and he’s going to be missed there perhaps more so than anywhere else he coached in his career.

For more NFL coverage, be sure to visit our hub page.

Home/NFL