How K-State linebacker Daniel Green found college football stardom far away from home

The first time Steve Stanard met Daniel Green, he assumed the Kansas State linebacker grew up somewhere in the Midwest.

Maybe he was from a small town in Kansas or perhaps he used to live in Missouri or Iowa. Based purely on the way he talked (no nonsense) and played (fast and physical), Stanard was certain that Green hailed from somewhere within the Wildcats’ traditional recruiting footprint.

“I was surprised when Daniel told me he was from Portland, Oregon,” said Stanard, who coaches linebackers for K-State. “Not that I know many people from Portland, but I just kinda figured he was from someplace like Lincoln, Nebraska.”

Green gets that a lot. Even though he grew up 1,700 miles away in a city known for hipsters, microbreweries and its beautiful outdoor scene, he had little trouble adjusting to a quieter and more football-driven life in Manhattan.

Well, that’s not entirely true. When he made his first recruiting visit to the Little Apple he felt like he was reading the “The Lorax” and wondered aloud why they weren’t many trees on campus. He also had to find some new hobbies outside of football, because there is no place to snowboard in the Sunflower State. But now that he is a senior and K-State’s top returning tackler, it’s hard to remember a time when he seemed like an outsider.

“K-State and I connected out of the blue, but we were a perfect fit,” Green said. “I got a message that they wanted to fly out and meet me in Portland. Then, it was Coach (Mike) Cox back then, flew out and offered me. From there I got close to K-State and found myself a home here. It was all based off the culture and the family atmosphere they have out here. They sold me. Ever since then, this has felt like my second home.”

The Wildcats were a late, wild-card selection for Green. Before they entered his recruitment, he held scholarship offers from seven different Pac-12 schools, including Oregon and USC.

It seemed like a given that he would attend college someplace close to home.

The only connection the Wildcats had to him was Jeron Mastrud, a native of Beaverton, Oregon who played tight end at K-State from 2006-09. If not for him suggesting that Bill Snyder’s coaching staff should take a look at Green in 2017, he would almost certainly be playing somewhere else right now.

K-State rarely devotes much recruiting attention to the West Coast. Of the 120 football players listed in its media guide, all but 12 grew up in states located in the Central or Eastern time zones. Four of the others came from Colorado, four more from Arizona and three from California.

Only one player on the entire K-State football roster is from Oregon — Green.

“It’s a little different not having anyone from where I’m from,” Green said. “But Adrian (Martinez) is a California guy. We’re both from the West Coast. That’s something. I will say, it is a lot different being from where I’m from. I tell people on the team I like to snowboard and they look at me funny because they have never been on a mountain in their life.”

Fortuantely, it was easy for Green to bond with his K-State teammates over football. It also helped that everyone could tell he was going to be good.

Green spent his first season on the sideline redshirt, but he has made an impact ever since. He made 33 tackles as a freshman, 39 more as a junior and then a team-leading 89 as a junior. He is at his best chasing down ball-carriers in the backfield, as 25 of his stops have gone for loss.

That kind of production on defense will make anyone popular at K-State. Now, he is one of the team’s unquestioned leaders.

“He’s the guy in the middle of our defense right now, and he’s doing a great job of communicating,” Stanard said. “Daniel is really establishing himself as a vocal leader. A year ago, and especially two years ago, he was hesitant to speak up and say things. Now, there is no doubt that he is one of the best leaders we have.”

The Wildcats are expecting even bigger things from him as a senior.

“The only thing that surprises me about Daniel is that he is from Portland,” defensive tackle Eli Huggins said. “You would never know, because he is the epitome of a K-State football player. He is the heartbeat of the defense right there in the middle leading us. He’s an incredible player and an incredible leader. I couldn’t ask for anyone better to be playing right behind me. We are going to go where he goes.”

Some thought Green played well enough last season to leave early for the NFL, but he was dead set on returning for at least one more year.

He is in no rush to be anywhere else, even though K-State is a long way from his home.

“I’m completely bought in to what we are doing here,” Green said. “I came here with a group of guys who all have the same mindset and think we can do something special. Why not run it back for one more season?”