It took a 5th try as a finalist and a half-hour discussion by Hall of Fame selectors, but Kevin Greene has finally booked his ticket to Canton.

Greene was voted in Saturday, becoming the first player elected to the Hall after playing multiple seasons with the Panthers.

Reggie White spent just one year with the Panthers during his Hall of Fame career. Bill Polian, Carolina’s first general manager, is the only other man with Panther ties currently in Canton.

Green, who also played with the Rams, Steelers and 49ers, ranks third in NFL history with 160 sacks. He totaled 41.5 of those during his three seasons with the Panthers.

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Hall of Fame Selection Press Conference Transcription

 

Kevin Greene

 

(on how much his humble start drove him throughout his career)

“Yeah, absolutely, being a fifth-round draft choice and the first player picked in the fifth round of the 1985 (draft), I had to pay my dues. For the first three years, I had to run down kickoff team, punt team, punt-return team, kickoff-return team and all that stuff, so I did it all. But I was begging for an opportunity, and I thank the head coach, John Robinson. At the time, he threatened to send my butt back to Alabama before I came into his office and asked for more playing time. I just kept knocking on the door and Fritz Shurmur, our defensive coordinator, saw something in me and put together a defense for me actually called ‘Eagle defense’. In 1988, my first year as a starter, I was able to be productive in that defense, so I paid my dues at that time and seasoned a little bit and was really chomping at the bit to go, so yes, it definitely helped me.”

(on his career starting in Los Angeles and the NFL returning there and his last team, the Carolina Panthers, currently in the Super Bowl in another city in which he played, and if all these events are tied up in a nice bow for him)

“Yeah, it does. I’m a Carolina Panther fan, a Pittsburgh Steeler fan, a L.A. Ram fan, a San Francisco fan … everybody paid the bills (laughter). I’m just a big fan of Mr. (Jerry) Richardson and Mrs. Rosalind Richardson, and they are just classy, classy people who have a wonderful organization there in Carolina. I was truly blessed to be a part of that organization.”