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OFFICIAL ATHLETICS SITE OF  THE SWARTHMORE COLLEGE GARNET

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Ed Green

Ed Greene '85

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    GCAC Member
Ed Greene was a Thomas B. McCabe Scholarship recipient and entered Swarthmore College in 1981 after graduating third in his class from Colonel Richardson High School, in Federalsburg, MD. He was a four-year starter on the football and baseball teams. 

Known as “The Hammer” to his friends and teammates, Ed played defensive back and returned punts and kickoffs for the football team and was primarily a pitcher for the baseball team. From 1981-1985, the Garnet was 30-6 on the gridiron, and was the reigning Centennial Conference Champions three years in a row (1982-1984).  

Ed earned second team All-American honors playing cornerback as a senior. He picked off 21 career interceptions, which was a Swarthmore College record.

During senior year, Ed was 8-1 as a pitcher for Swarthmore baseball, which was 26-7 and won the MAC Conference Championship, earning Swarthmore its first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament held at the Triple A Wilkes-Barre Phillies Stadium. 

That same season, Ed hit .510, while his younger brother Michael hit over .500 as a senior at Colonel Richardson High School. The two were featured in the sports section of USA Today as brothers hitting over .500 in the same year. Ed also became the first Swarthmore College ABCA All-American (third team). He was noticed by Milwaukee baseball scout Don Kohler, who entered Ed in the 1985 baseball draft.

The Milwaukee Brewers drafted Ed in the 13th round. and he reported to Helena, MT for rookie ball during the summer of 1985. He played two years in the Brewers organization (the second in Beloit, WI) and had contracts with McGregor baseball glove and Pepsi. Fittingly, he still has a green wooden bat with the Brewer’s logo on it. 

In 2013, Ed was inducted into the Swarthmore College Hall of Fame for baseball and football, and then again in 2014, for the 1984 football team. He has kept in touch with many of his teammates and hopes the 1985 baseball squad will make it into the Hall of Fame as well.

As a Thomas B. McCabe Scholar alumnus, he was privileged to meet Mr. McCabe and to attend numerous McCabe Dinners. He also was asked to speak with student-athlete Robert Ruffin, who came from his hometown area and ultimately attended Swarthmore. Ruffin was inducted into the Swarthmore College Hall of Fame for basketball and football in 2018.

Academically, Ed was part of the student council and tutored high school students at the A Better Chance (ABC) House. He was known on campus as Eddie “Jam” Greene, for his deejaying skills on the “wheels of steel” and his popular Mountain Dew throwdowns. 

Ed was part of the Mountain Dew intramural basketball team that won a championship and whose team roster included the only woman in the league. He also was a member of the award-winning interpretive dance team that performed in a highlight show at Johns Hopkins University. Two of his fellow athletes also were on the dance team.

As a social worker, Ed worked for Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) and the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC), assisting families and children and offering expert witness testimony; the latter included a side bar with a judge who was a Swarthmore alum. 

For 12 years, he served as director of admissions for the Boston University Graduate School of Social Work. Most recently, he has been program director at the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department, in Santa Cruz, CA.
Among his pastimes, Ed enjoys recreational softball, golf, and bowling.  While still living in New England, he bowled a perfect game at Westgate Lanes in Brockton, MA. He organizes an annual golf trip to Myrtle Beach that includes several Swarthmore College alumni. And he still deejays, hosting several karaoke shows each month, and working at weddings and private parties. To check out his livestream on Twitch/TV, search Ed G or Funk DJ Ed G.

As a member of the Garnet Club Advancement Council, Ed hopes to continue connecting with his fellow teammates and to keep the dialogue going about sharing their stories of playing football, baseball, and basketball while being student-athletes at Swarthmore College.