September 10, 2013

Former KU Football Player and K Club President Dick Green Dies

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Former Kansas football player and K Club president Richard Allen “Dick” Green died Sept. 6, in Lawrence. Green was 74.

Green was a tight end for the Jayhawks from 1959-61. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biological science with a minor in chemistry from KU in 1962.

Playing for head coach Jack Mitchell, Kansas finished third in the Big Eight Conference all three seasons Green was on the KU roster. His senior season, along all-conference performer Curtis McClinton and All-American John Hadl, Kansas went 7-3-1 in 1961 and defeated Rice, 33-7, in the Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston.

A diehard KU football fan, Green was also active in the K Club and served as its president in 1990-91. K Club is designed to provide an avenue in which KU alumni can remain connected to the university, the athletics department as a whole and their individual sport while fostering relationships with all alumni from every sport.

“Dick was a military guy who came in and was a little bit older than us,” Hadl said of his former teammate. “He was a fierce competitor and a very smart guy. He did everything you would ask of him and was there every day working his tail off for Kansas football. He was a great KU guy who was active in the K Club and a former president of K Club. He was a fabulous guy and we’re going to miss him.”

Originally from Canton, Ill., Green graduated from Pratt (Kan.) High School and attended Pratt Junior College before coming to KU. After graduating from KU, Green taught biology and coached football, basketball and track at Hays (Kan.) High School.

A memorial service for Green will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.

KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.