A.J. Green deserves the world
To this day there remains a miniature Fathead of A.J. Green hanging up in my parent's basement. I haven't lived there since before I graduated college in 2019, but if anyone deserves permanence in Bengals lore, Green has as strong a case as any. Green was not like Chad […]
To this day there remains a miniature Fathead of A.J. Green hanging up in my parent's basement. I haven't lived there since before I graduated college in 2019, but if anyone deserves permanence in Bengals lore, Green has as strong a case as any.
Green was not like Chad Johnson, Ja'Marr Chase, or any of the receivers that came before or after him. He's always been a one-of-one in so many different facets.
It's why out of all the Rulers of the Jungle the Bengals have brought in over the past two years, Green is the most recent former player of the franchise. He doesn't need to wait through a grace period, his 10-year period with the Bengals was filled with nothing but grace.
I just wish it was also filled with more winning.
Now granted, I know Green had it better than some. Carl Pickens and Darnay Scott would've killed to be on the teams Green helped lead to five-consecutive playoff appearances and two AFC North crowns. Imagine catching 17 touchdown passes in a season like Pickens did in 1995 and only seeing seven wins.
But the Bengals of the 2010s will always be associated with coming up short instead getting further than their recent predecessors. The bar was set at winning a single playoff game, and they were never able to ascend it.
Green's attachment to that era cannot be broken, and that's heartbreaking for anyone who idolized everything about him.
Because A.J. was him, even if he never vocalized it.
The 2011 version of Green remains my favorite because it was the closest he ever came to saying it. Having to immediately take over as the alpha in the Bengals' offense fresh off the departures of Chad Johnson, Terell Owens, Green wasted no time looking exactly like a top-five pick should. There was no cornerback who could stop him from climbing the ladder and hauling in prayer balls from Andy Dalton. When he'd do so in the end zone, he'd point to his name plate with both hands to let you know.
Adriel Jeremiah Green. God bless Dan Hoard for every one of those calls.
The dominant No. 1 receiver who was considered the ninth-best player in the NFL by his peers at one point was everything to the Bengals' offense. Nearly 4,000 receiving yards and 29 touchdowns through his first three seasons never felt so seamless, but that's how watching Green can be described. He'd make circus catches look remedial, contorting a lanky 6'4" frame in ways you'd never see on a football field.
You appreciated all of this 10 times more because off the field, Green was just a regular dude from Summerville, South Carolina. A man with a passion for collecting shoes who could also juggle. His words never made for any spicy content on Mic'd Up. The idea of putting a hot mic under Green's jersey is honestly hysterical to think about. Just three hours of dead air and grunts.
When Green showed emotion, it resonated like shockwaves. After Dalton went down with a thumb injury against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015, Green caught a deep touchdown pass from backup AJ McCarron and punted that ball about 5,000 rows deep into the stands. Even when the season appeared in jeopardy, Green reminded you he was here to carry everyone once more.
No emotional moment sticks out more than a grizzled, fed up Green taking down Jalen Ramsey by the neck and punching him into the Jacksonville dirt in 2017. It was like watching Ghandi firing an RPG. Even the calm, cool, and collected seven-time Pro Bowler has a boiling point when things are going off the rails.
When Green was elated, we were elated. When Green was frustrated, we were most definitely frustrated.
When Green was hurt, we were crushed. He missed the entire 2019 season and the Bengals won a grand total of two games. I've seen coincidences far less convincing than that.
The way we remember Green paints him in the light of a franchise quarterback more than a wide receiver, and that's because he was the wide receiver equivalent of a franchise quarterback. There aren't many in NFL history who can be distinguished in that manner. The reason being it's very hard, even for dominant receivers, to take a team to the promise land.
Green tried his best, especially when facing the team that's visiting Paycor Stadium Sunday afternoon. Three times Green went over 130 yards with a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens. When it was absolutely needed, No. 18 would find himself past the purple and black secondary and running into the end zone with the ball in his hands.
Now, almost exactly five years after torching the Ravens for three touchdowns in a Week 2 victory, he'll kick off this Week 2 game as the first Ruler of the Jungle for 2023. He'll get to watch this Bengals team that has tasted levels of victory Green could only imagine when his squads went home early in January.
Man, did he deserve to live it just once.
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Featured image via © Sam Greene/The Enquirer via Imagn Content Services, LLC
