Don Greenwood (American football)

Don Greenwood

Greenwood in 1946
No. 85
Position:	Back
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1921-02-18)February 18, 1921
Place of birth:	Detroit, Michigan
Date of death:	March 21, 1983(1983-03-21) (aged 62)
Place of death:	Princeville, Illinois
Height:	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:	Southwest High School
College:	Missouri, Illinois
Career history
Cleveland Rams (1945) Cleveland Browns (1946–1947)
Career highlights and awards
NFL champion (1945) 2× AAFC champion (1946, 1947)
Career NFL statistics
Games: 33 Rushing yards: 744 Rushing touchdowns: 10
Player stats at PFR

Donald Adams Greenwood (February 18, 1921 – March 21, 1983) was a professional American football fullback and halfback who played three seasons for the Cleveland Rams and Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) and All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

Greenwood played college football at the University of Missouri and the University of Illinois, where he starred as a halfback, punter and quarterback. His first year in professional football was with the NFL's Rams in 1945, when the team won the NFL championship. The Rams moved to Los Angeles after that year, however, and Greenwood elected to stay in Cleveland, where a new team called the Cleveland Browns was under formation in the AAFC. He played two seasons for the Browns, during both of which the team won the league championship. Greenwood was plagued by injuries in 1946, and in 1947 he suffered a debilitating cheekbone fracture that ended his professional career. After retiring, he worked as a high school coach in Ohio and briefly as an assistant at Yale University. He then became the head football coach at Toledo University in Toledo, Ohio, but resigned from that position in 1951, saying the school had not done enough to counteract unnecessary violence in the game.

Greenwood grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and attended Southwest High School. He played on the school's football team but was more accomplished as a track athlete. He won the Missouri state championship in 1938 by running the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds. In 1939, he was a member of an 880-yard relay team that won state and national championships.