Joe Greene Honored As Part of Hometown Hall of Famer
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Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its Values & Celebrate Excellence EVERYWHERE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE @ProFootballHOF 11/11/15 #HometownHOFer JOE GREENE HONORED AS PART OF HOMETOWN HALL OF FAMER™ PROGRAM PRESENTED BY FORD MOTOR COMPANY LIFE OF LEGENDARY DEFENSIVE TACKLE CELEBRATED AT HIGH SCHOOL ALMA MATER IN TEMPLE, TEXAS CANTON, OHIO – The Pro Football Hall of Fame and Ford Motor Company paid tribute to Gold Jacket Joe Greene at his high school alma mater on Tuesday afternoon as part of the Hometown Hall of Famer™ program. An audience of 1,200 people packed the auditorium at Temple (Texas) High School for the event. The crowd included students, teachers, the marching band, cheerleaders, and the Wildcat football team. In addition, Greene was joined by his mother, sister and daughter. Hometown Hall of Famer™ is a national program that honors the hometown roots of the greatest heroes of the game with special ceremonies and plaque dedication events in local communities. “The plaque is for Temple and that is so wonderful,” commented Greene who was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. Greene brought one of the Temple football players, Ryan Bing, on stage with him during the presentation and shared, “If you put forth the effort, luck usually follows effort and you can probably do anything that you would like to do.” Friday’s event was the 94th Hometown Hall of Famer™ ceremony. Greene, 1968 consensus All-America at North Texas State, was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 1 pick in the 1969 draft. The 6-4, 275-pounder was a cornerstone of Coach Chuck Noll's program that produced four AFC titles and four Super Bowl victories in the 1970s. COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • COURAGE • RESPECT • EXCELLENCE Playing at left defensive tackle in the Pittsburgh’s “Steel Curtain” defense, Greene was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1969 when he received the first of his 10 Pro Bowl invitations. Greene was armed with speed, quickness, strength and great determination and, at the peak of his career, could dominate a game almost single-handedly. His durability was demonstrated by the fact he played in 181 of a possible 190 regular-season games. Greene was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1972 and 1974 and named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s. B-Roll video of Tuesday’s event (for editorial purposes only): https://profootballhof.box.com/s/cqwydn8x0ahggiyaat8y91qlketczzgl ### About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Michigan, manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 195,000 employees and 66 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit www.corporate.ford.com. About the Pro Football Hall Of Fame Located in Canton, Ohio, the birthplace of the National Football League, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Mission is to Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its Values, & Celebrate Excellence EVERYWHERE. Hundreds of thousands of fans from across the globe travel to Canton annually to experience the exciting museum that chronicles America’s most popular sport. Millions more are reached through the Hall of Fame’s 100-plus special events held annually outside Canton and through the multiple nationally broadcast programs focused on the selection of the newest Class of Enshrinees and the Enshrinement Weekend. This year, the NFL’s Road to Super Bowl 50 began in Canton during the 2015 Enshrinement Weekend and will continue through the election of the Hall’s new class of enshrinees on the eve of the Super Bowl in San Francisco. Now in its third year of traveling, Gridiron Glory: The Best of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a large-scale traveling exhibition that presents a panoramic view of pro football’s story and includes hundreds of artifacts from the Hall’s expansive collection. Gridiron Glory will be at the Bullock Texas State History Museum from Sept. 26, 2015-Jan. 3, 2016 and is scheduled for three-month stays at various museums and cultural institutions through 2019. Enshrinees from the Class of 2015 along with numerous other Hall of Fame members will receive the spectacular Hall of Fame Ring of Excellence by Kay® Jewelers during ceremonies held in NFL stadiums during 13 of the 17 weeks of the 2015 NFL regular season. The Hometown Hall of Famer™ program presented by Ford honors Hall of Fame heroes with a program and permanent plaque to honor the Hall of Famer’s hometown support. Now in its 4th year, the US Army-Pro Football Hall of Fame Award for Excellence honors 20 high school students nationally for excellence in community service, academics and athletics. Construction on HOF Village, a $476 million development project, is under way in Canton to transform the Hall of Fame’s campus. For more information about the Pro Football Hall of Fame, please visit ProFootballHOF.com; @ProFootballHOF on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • COURAGE • RESPECT • EXCELLENCE Contact(s): Jessica Enoch Sam Schembari Pete Fierle Product Communications Product Communications VP, Communications Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company Pro Football Hall of Fame 313.594.7933 313.323.8199 330.588.3622 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • COURAGE • RESPECT • EXCELLENCE .