STARKVILLE — Marcus Green will be in a Mississippi State University football jersey in 2012.
MSU officials announced Thursday morning the NCAA granted the 24-year-old tight end a sixth-year of eligibility after the school applied for it on his behalf.
Green, a Scooba native, redshirted his first season (2007) at MSU. It was believed the 2011 campaign would be his final season as a fifth-year senior. However, because he missed all but two games in 2008 with a hip injury and the 2010 season with a knee injury, the NCAA granted Green a waiver to play this fall.
“I wasn’t ready to give up ball. I wasn’t ready to stop playing,” Green said. “With that being said, when I got granted the extra year, I felt like God was telling me maybe you should think this over some.”
Injuries have plagued Green. The 2011 season marked the first time he played every game in a season. Green’s 2010 season ended after the first two games following surgery to repair a sprained medial collateral ligament and a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
According to NCAA rules, a school must wait until a player’s eligibility has been officially exhausted before it can apply for a waiver.
Green, who had 11 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown last year, said Thursday he took time this spring to determine if he wanted to play another season of college football and gamble he wouldn’t suffer another devastating injury. This spring, Green watched from the sidelines as he made that decision and to see if MSU could make room on the roster under the maximum number of 85 scholarships to ensure he would have a spot.
“I wanted to make sure my body was healthy,” Green said. “I took a couple of months off. I wanted to see where I was headed with my life.”
Green is enrolled at MSU and will continue his graduate school work this fall while he joins a highly competitive tight end depth chart
that includes sophomores Malcolm Johnson, former West Lowndes High School standout Brandon Hill, redshirt freshman Rufus Warren, and freshman Gus Walley.
Green’s experience in the spread-option offense under fourth-year coach Dan Mullen could prove valuable as junior quarterback Tyler Russell could emerge as the starter.
“I kind of looked back over it and thought about the situation that coming back another year wasn’t going to be so bad,” Green said. “I think I made the right decision.”
In his four previous seasons (29 games), Green has 42 catches for 579 yards and four touchdowns.
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