Editor's Note: Jacob Green will be honored this Saturday, Oct. 12, with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, during Texas A&M's game against Alabama in College Station, Texas. He will be officially inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10 in New York City.

Jacob Green
Texas A&M University
Defensive Lineman, 1977-79

• Named First Team All-American in 1979.
• Set Texas A&M records for career sacks (38) and single-season sacks (20).
• Led Aggies to berths in the 1977 Bluebonnet and 1978 Hall of Fame bowls.
• Played for coaches Emory Bellard and Tom Wilson.
• Becomes the 11th Aggie player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Jacob Green's life has come full circle at Texas A&M. After retiring from the NFL, he returned to College Station, attending a few games and eventually assumed his current job as the 12th Man Foundation's vice president for major gifts and endowments, leveraging his well-known contributions as a player to inspire donor contributions today.

One of the first gifts that Green ended up receiving, he said, came as a direct result of an important alumnus remembering how much Green had given whenever he was asked to as a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

"It was pretty rewarding to me," Green said. "I gave when I was playing, and so it was something that I always wanted to be able to do."

Green is the 11th former Texas A&M player to make the College Football Hall of Fame. In some ways, the former defensive end should have known it was coming — other Aggies had told him to watch out every winter for the commemorative football that gets shipped to the inductees, announcing their inclusion in that year's class.

But Green was busy in his day job visiting donors in Houston when the memento arrived. And when he returned to his office on campus, his colleagues threw him a surprise party congratulating him on the honor.

"It was fun, it was exciting," Green said. "I'll never forget that moment that I found out."

Aggies fans will not forget Green's impact on the field anytime soon, either. A two-time captain, Green became a First Team All-American in 1979, recording a school-record 20 sacks. His 12 career forced fumbles remain a school record, and his 38 career sacks and 22 tackles in one game were both program records at the time, too. (Those marks currently rank second and tied for third, respectively.)

His favorite memory comes from his final season as a player in 1979. Despite an uneven 6-5 campaign for the Aggies, Green will never forget speaking at the Aggie Bonfire the night before the finale against Texas. The next day, his roommate Curtis Dickey broke off a 20-yard touchdown run that proved to be the game-winner, capping a winning season and a rivalry win for Texas A&M.

"This is a universal award for my family, coaches and Texas A&M," Green said of making the Hall. "I could have never done it without them. Aggies all over the country are excited for me — at least the ones I've talked to — which is pretty good."

Drafted 10th overall by the Seahawks, Green played 11 of his 12 NFL seasons in Seattle. He made a pair of Pro Bowls and finished his career third all-time on the NFL sacks list, with 97.5.

Green joined his father's landscaping business when he retired from the NFL, and his charitable efforts included the Jaycee's Children's Center in Houston, named for his father, who passed away from cancer. But it was another charitable venture that led him back to his alma mater.

"After that, my sister started a home for teenage girls, and I wanted to help, and I was kind of the fundraising guy, the guy to go out and see if I could get people to do a golf tournament," Green said. He ran into a college buddy at one of those outings, who knew just the way for Green to channel his people skills into a place near and dear to his heart.

"It's just been great. I've met so many people who knew me when I played. That's the most rewarding thing: the people who helped me give money for scholarships for all our student-athletes, now I get a chance to meet them and I go out and raise money for our programs and be a part of it."