A retired businessman enrolled in college for the first time — and joined the D-III football team as a freshman walk-on — after a dire cancer diagnosis reinvigorated his zeal for life.
Tom Green, a 60-year-old Maryland native, stunned school officials when he tried out for the football team during his freshman year at McDaniel College.
Now, he’s slated to be one of the oldest college athletes in US history, about a decade after beating cancer.
When he was first diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer in 2015, Green said he was certifiably “dying.”
“I was 60 pounds less, I was sweating like crazy at nighttime, and my blood was being eaten by the tumors. That was my life. I thought it was the end,” Green told ABC 4.
Eight tumors festered in his body, stretching from one in his skull to another in the tail of his pancreas.
“I was so far gone. My sixth rib was eaten through, my eighth rib was eaten through, I felt like a frickin’ walking accordion,” he said with a hearty laugh.
Then — in what Green chalked up to divine intervention — he was declared cancer-free in 2018.
Green grew up near the college, but never pursued higher education himself. He told Fox 17 that he hopped around between semi-pro football teams for a bit before he established his own pallet business in Pennsylvania.
While reapplying to college after being cleared of cancer, he decided to take his shot at joining the team.
Some players on the team told WBAL-TV that they thought Green’s recruitment was a joke, but have come to accept his presence alone as an inspiration.
“I had to get used to it. At first, it was kind of weird, but I got used to it because he teaches us lifelong lessons that we can use off the field,” teammate Jordan Weeden said.
Green was also blown away by the team’s warm reception, though he admitted it only came about after they each tested him with rough blows during practice.
The sexagenarian knows his time on the turf is finite, but he hopes to leave his newfound brothers with memories that will carry them through the rest of their lives.
“Life is very short. Actually, in Scripture, it says that life is like a vapor, it’s there and then it’s gone, just like a winter breath, it’s there and it’s gone,” Green said.
“[Football] never leaves you. And the one thing that I always tell everybody is, the camaraderie of it all, you miss it. I’ve had employees, and I’ve had people work for me, and so on and so forth, but when you’re playing ball, it’s a lot different atmosphere. It’s one of those things that I think the Lord has led me to and God’s blessed me to do it,” he added.
Green is set to make his debut on the defensive line in the fall season.
Green turns 61 years old in June. If he plays through his 62nd birthday, he’ll become the oldest person ever to play college football.
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