Tony Greene is not a player that often becomes the topic of conversation when talking about the great, or even good, players that have donned an NFL uniform and that have made their way between the spectating sidelines, onto the gridiron. In some circles- groups featuring die hard fans that know not only the current rendition of a franchised team, but the history of that team, inside out- there emerge the exhumed presence of players long forgotten. Free Safety Tony Greene is one such player of the past, whose spirit lives on in the minds of Buffalo Bills fans.

In Week 8 of the TLL77 season Tony Greene made a name for himself, gaining the attention of three of the five respective coaches in route to winning the defensive player of the week bid, after making 14 tackles in an overtime win against the rival Miami Dolphins. For the Fake NFL Bills, the most committed fans know Greene as a ball hawking safety who patrolled the back end of the Bills defense for nine solid seasons. Although Greene only made one pro bowl in his 9 year career, and was placed on what are among the worst Bills defenses in franchise history, Greene is listed 30th on the ‘Buffalo Rumblings` Top 50 greatest Bills of all time list.

The undersized Greene tells a story of what it was like coming into the league: ‘The guard at the door didn`t think I looked like a football player….one of the Bills trainers came out and told the guy who I was. ` Greene weighed under 170 pounds, but proved a durable and reliable option for a Bills team much in need of defensive playmakers. Greene became an interception machine by his fourth season, hauling in 9 picks, a trend that would continue for the next four seasons. Despite Greene`s huge interception numbers, he was a player constantly overlooked, as indicated by making it to only one pro bowl squad- a result that is probably a product of playing on, as mentioned before, some overall porous defenses. Though, even when the Bills did make modest strides toward defensive improvement, the media attention was locked in on O.J. Simpson, undoubtedly the face of the franchise for most the of 1970`s.

One of the aspects of the Tecmo Legacy League that I enjoy most is becoming more familiar with the history of the NFL, and the bevy of talented players that remain to a great extent on the fringe or out of the spotlit grand narrative. Greene is yet another example of a productive NFL player rarely gaining mention.