There are more glamorous football numbers than 182. Cornell Green gave that one an unusually substantial meaning: thirteen Dallas Cowboys seasons, every regular-season game played.
The Cowboys announced Wednesday that Green had died at 86. His career stretched from 1962 through 1974, and the attendance total is a good place to begin remembering him. It describes something a team cannot replace with a particularly stirring pregame speech: an accomplished player who is there for the next assignment.
Availability gets called an ability so frequently that the phrase can sound like an excuse for overlooking talent. Green makes the stronger argument. His durability came attached to five Pro Bowl selections, 34 interceptions and recognition from the Associated Press as an All-Pro in both 1966 and 1967. Dallas kept getting useful work from the person who kept showing up.
The starting record makes the distinction even clearer. Green started three games as a rookie. Over the rest of his playing career, he started 167 out of a possible 168. The streak was about appearances, rather than an invented claim that he started every game, but the near-continuity of the assignment is impressive enough without embellishment.
A coach choosing a secondary has several questions to answer before considering the next opponent. Who can play? Which roles can they fill? How much experience will be available? Green's career offers a concrete example of those uncertainties being reduced over a long period. The value is practical before it becomes commemorative.
That did not mean Dallas simply kept asking the same thing of him. Green spent eight seasons at cornerback before shifting to safety in 1970. His final five seasons came at the latter position. The move divided his playing career into different jobs, and the recognition continued: Pro Bowl selections at safety followed in 1971 and 1972.
That is why the attendance statistic belongs alongside his honors. Someone can remain employed for a long time without remaining exceptional. Green earned three Pro Bowl trips at cornerback and another two at safety. The two phases give the durability a quality check. Dallas was getting more than a familiar name on the roster.
The strongest part of this record is the combination. Perfect attendance from an ineffective player would be a curiosity, and an outstanding season followed by a long absence would present a different kind of career. Green paired regular availability with recognition that continued across the move to safety.
Those are distinct achievements that became more useful together. For Dallas, the player who was present was also someone worth trusting with an important job.
There is also no useful way to turn his fourteen-game regular seasons into a contest with players on today's longer schedule. The relevant comparison is with his own team's calendar. Dallas had 182 regular-season games during his playing career. Green appeared in all of them. That is a complete answer to the attendance question.
