Jets fans know Shonn Greene for his actions on the football field, but Calvin Taylor, a supervisor at McGregor’s Furniture in Cedarville, Iowa, knows the rookie running back in an entirely different way.
“He was a good guy . . . very quiet, kept to himself,” Taylor said. “He ate lunch with us.”
Greene began working for $8 an hour for Taylor in McGregor’s warehouse in the summer of 2007. After averaging 6.4 yards per carry as a sophomore in 2006, academic ineligbility forced Greene to leave Iowa and enroll at nearby Kirkwood Community College.
So while Greene, from Sicklerville, N.J., was studying and working out on his own in an attempt to return to the Hawkeyes, he worked at McGregor’s until December.
“The first day he started working in the warehouse, they were talking about his case on the radio,” Taylor said. “He was kind of silent around the warehouse, and nobody knew what to say.
“We didn’t bring it up, but we all knew it was going on. He didn’t bring it up . . . he was just a normal guy working for us.”
Many high-profile Hawkeyes have worked at the store, from Colts star safety Bob Sanders to Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux to former Iowa quarterback Drew Tate. Despite that, Greene differed from the others in the minds of Taylor and his co-workers.
“He actually stood out because he finished his work and did everything,” Taylor said. “He never said he didn’t want to do anything, or didn’t finish something. He finished everything he ever did.
“[Customers] would ask him if he was Shonn Greene, and he’d say, ‘No.’ I asked him why didn’t he want people to know who he was, and he said he just wanted to do his job.”
After sitting out for the 2007 season, Greene regained his eligibility and rejoined the Hawkeyes. He had a stellar junior season, rushing for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns and winning the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back.
Even now, it’s hard for Taylor to comprehend the meteoric rise Greene has had since working for him just a couple of years ago.
“Well, I knew from the beginning he was a good running back, but I never knew he’d work out like this,” Taylor said. “Who knew? After the year he had [at Iowa], getting 100 yards in every game, after playing in the playoffs, nobody could have thought of that.
“But we’re very proud of him, and keep him close, and we watch him every day.”
Since leaving McGregor’s and getting back to playing football, Taylor hasn’t seen Greene. He said that while Greene was at Iowa he stopped by the store once, but Taylor was on lunch break and missed him.
As for tomorrow’s game against the Chargers, Taylor said he hadn’t made definite plans yet, but said that the game would be on in the store and he definitely will be watching it somewhere. In the meantime, he’s looking forward to getting a chance to see Greene again at some point down the road.
“To see the way it’s turned out, you couldn’t even write a better script than that,” Taylor said. “It’s kind of like our own little ‘Rudy’ story here, you know? From rags to riches.”
And, the Jets hope, from McGregor’s Furniture to the Super Bowl.