Minium: The Green Brothers Will Face Off on Separate Sidelines When ODU Hosts Marshall Saturday

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – It was the summer of 2021 and while the pandemic was winding down, EJ Green was a junior college linebacker in North Carolina who had no offers to continue his career.

In the midst of an NCAA decision to give all student athletes an additional year of eligibility because of the pandemic, and because COVID restrictions limited off-campus recruiting, a ton of good junior college players simply got overlooked.

Green was determined not to be overlooked. So, at a crucial juncture in Green’s life, one that required a little courage and creative thinking, he decided to do something a little radical.

He persuaded his uncle, Shawn Jones, to drive him to Norfolk. Once here, Green stationed himself in front of the gate leading to the Old Dominion football practice field.

“I made sure to put on a nice, fitted shirt on so that I looked decent,” Green said.

He was hoping to run into a coach. And who by chanced happened to walk by? Ricky Rahne, ODU’s head coach.

He told Rahne that he had been trying to reach the ODU coaching staff but had been unsuccessful. He wanted a chance to walk-on to the team without a scholarship. All I’m asking for, he said, is a chance.

“He gave me his email address and asked me to email him directly,” Green said.

The next day, Green got a call from defensive coordinator Blake Seiler. We like your video, he was told. Preseason camp is about to begin, he added.

“And he told me they wanted me to report to ODU right away,” he said.

After an interview, he was offered a chance to walk-on to the team without a scholarship, and the rest is history.

Green, who is 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, played in all 13 games, including ODU’s Myrtle Beach Bowl game, in 2021 and while he didn’t start, he earned a scholarship.

Three years later his career is about to end. The Monarchs play their final home game Saturday against Marshall. The 7:30 p.m. game is to be televised nationally on ESPNU.

“It will be my last time playing at Ballard Stadium,” he said. “It will be a game I never forget.”

And it will be a special game in more ways than one for E.J.

It will be his first time ever playing against his brother, Michael Green.

Michael, who is younger than EJ, took a circuitous route to Huntington, West Virginia. He signed with Virginia, where he spent a season on the bench. He transferred to Marshall and has blossomed into one of the nation’s best defensive players.

The 6-4, 248-pound defensive lineman leads the nation with 15 sacks and has had seven sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 27 tackles in his last three games.

“I’m definitely happy for him,” EJ said of Michael. “He’s my little brother. You know, I love him, but you know, it’s always tough love.”

And the friendly trash talking has continued non-stop this week.

“He was asking the other day, ‘So, what’s going on over there?’” EJ said. “I’m like, you know, you need to mind your own business. He’s asked a lot of questions and I’ve kept my mouth zipped.

"The group chat has been going crazy this week. All my family members, they're invested in this rivarly. So, it's going to be a good game."

His only problem this week has been finding enough tickets for relatives. Both players are from Williamsburg, where they starred at Lafayette High School.

EJ's ODU teammates have been forking over theirs to accommodate more than 40 members of the Green family expected to attend.

Dozens will wear t-shirts the family had made with photos of both brothers on the front.

For both Green brothers, family is everything, especially their mother, Michelle.

EJ describes his childhood better than anyone else could.

“My Mom, she's a single mother,” he said. “She’s an in-home nurse and she works very hard.

“She had five children and even though we didn’t have much, we never struggled for meals. My Mom always made a way to feed us, to clothe us.

“Our housing situation, sometimes that involved public housing. Sometimes hotels. Anywhere so we could have a roof over our heads.

“My Mom made sure that we 100 percent had a roof.

“I was born and raised in Newport News, but when my Mom saw some of us take a little dip, we moved to Williamsburg. We had a better upbringing there.

“Some of my friends in our old neighborhood didn’t really turn out to be exactly what they wanted to be.”

But Michelle’s five kids are all successful.

Of his three older siblings, one owns her own company, another works at Newport News Shipbuilding and a third is in the Navy.

“They all paved their way,” EJ said.

My mother, she’s a GOAT,” meaning the greatest of all time.

EJ’s career has had its ups and downs. He was a key special teams player in 2022 and had 20 tackles. Last season, he finally earned a starting position and had 25 tackles and an interception in his first three games, including a 10-tackle effort against Louisiana.

But then came a season-ending injury. Injuries have kept him out of four of ODU’s 10 games this season, too. He had a season-high eight tackles two weeks ago at App State.

Rahne had some advice for EJ on how to handle the emotion of Saturday’s game.

“It’s not a one-on-one battle,” he said. “But they’re probably going to be on the field at the same time on special teams.

“This game for EJ is about making sure that you don’t let the emotion in the moment overrun you and make you make a mistake. You’ve got to play with passion, like we always have to, but you have to be able to control it and channel it and funnel it in the right direction."

EJ has already graduated with an undergraduate degree in leadership and is finishing up a Master's degree.

"I can't have asked any more from my coaches and teammates, I couldn't have asked any more from ODU," he said.

"I got to play Division I football. I have a degree. And that means so much to my family, and to my mother."

Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or fllow him  on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram