This Sentell’s Intel rep shares a special story about the 2025 Georgia football team and one of its core leaders.
When Earnest Greene III walked off the field against Texas, he didn’t head to the victorious Georgia locker room. He veered to his left and touched grass. Greene hit his knees at a special spot.
Greene said a prayer of hope for his father and family. The Greenes are in need of all the prayers right now that a passionate Georgia football fan base can muster up.
His parents have been fixtures in Sanford Stadium the last four years. Earnest Greene Jr. is a mountain of a man. The former NFL offensive lineman is quick to flash a hearty smile and freely share a mountain-sized personality, too.
“Big Earnest” was rushed to an Athens-area hospital on the Friday before the Texas games. He suffered what was believed at the time to be a stroke.
That meant the Greenes weren’t in their normal gameday spot for the Texas game. They are hard to miss. It was like somebody moved UGA’s doghouse that day.
Their son prayed after that Texas win right below where his parents always sit in that far West End Zone.
It was the first time Greene played in Sanford without his parents to cheer him on.
“I have a new respect for Kirby,” his mother, Pamela Pace-Greene, told DawgNation before the Texas game. “He let Earnest leave the hotel last night and go to the hospital to visit and spend time with his Dad.”
It was later found out to be a blockage of the artery in Greene’s neck that goes to his brain. His father needed a stent implanted to open the artery.
When the Charlotte game rolled around, this family was hopeful. It was “Senior Day,” and while Greene could walk with his classmates, he chose not to do so without “Big Earnest” by his side.
The man who had coached him for 13 years was still in the ICU.
Greene, who’s since been transferred to Emory Hospital, has been through the mix. He had an allergic reaction to a blood thinner. He developed multiple blood clots and a brain bleed, but his condition finally stabilized.
He needed a feeding tube, but managed to get off the ventilator. He could breathe on his own with a tracheotomy. But there was a period when he could not move his arms or legs. Or swallow.
“Big Earnest” still found a way to keep up with the Dawgs.
“He can still hear us and answer commands and communicate by blinking his eyes,” Pamela Pace-Greene said earlier this month. “It will be a very long road for his recovery. We will be here for a while. The blessing in all this is that ‘Big Earnest’ had a stroke; he is in the best place possible. His care team at Emory is amazing.”
“Big and Little Earnest” and Georgia football
While the father recovers, the son has remained focused on his schoolwork and the team. Kirby Smart was asked about Greene after the Georgia Tech win.
“Earnest is such a tough kid, man,” Smart said. “He’s going through a lot right now. His family and his Dad. He just. He won’t quit. He’s there for his teammates. The guy competes so hard and wanted to be out there with them. So much respect for his toughness and his leadership.”
Those words comforted the Greene family. With the SEC Championship Game looming, big No. 71 visited his father before the Dawgs faced Alabama.
“He told ‘Big E’ that he was going to will the game Saturday for him,” his mother said. So ‘Big E’ can have the SEC Championship ring to put in his man cave."
When Greene walked out for the coin toss as one of the Georgia captains in the SEC Championship, it just felt right because of that promise he’d made to his father.
The redshirt junior from Los Angeles was one of many Dawgs who played inspired ball that day. His father’s man cave needed another SEC ring.
“We went to the hospital after the game,” his mother said. Earnest gave me his SEC Championship hat and T-shirt to give to his Dad. His eyes were smiling.”
His father grew up in Georgia.
When his son signed with UGA, “Big Earnest” was practically the only member of his family who didn’t live in the Savannah area. The 6-foot-8 Greene starred at Savannah State and went on to play for the San Diego Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles.
When we say that No. 71 is a fighter, he gets it from his Dad. “Little Earnest” can also credit him for his height, size and his own smile. We’ve seen it beam wider than the SEC Championship trophy presentation stage. He also instilled in his son the strong skill set and fundamentals he brings to his tackle spot.
His Dad has always pulled for the Dawgs. Now, he needs DawgNation to pull for him.
“I want our story to motivate others to have faith,” Pamela Pace-Greene said. “And to be thankful for every moment. There is so much that we take for granted. I am proud of my husband. He is continuing to fight. We agreed his goal is to be able to attend the [national] championship parade in Athens.”
“He is working hard in physical therapy. He is working on sitting up and trying to hold his head up so he can attend the parade.”
He’s had a stroke at the base of his brain stem. That’s the part that controls everything we do involuntarily. That’s breathing, swallowing, body temperature, and heart rate. He has had four partial blockages in major blood vessels.
The Greenes will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on Monday. Pace-Green feels it is a “miracle” that her husband is still with us. The goal is for “Big Earnest” to leave the acute care facility at Emory and continue his recovery in Athens.
“I want to motivate others,” his mother said. “I am so proud of how Earnest is handling all this and we really need prayers now.”
Like father, like son: Earnest Greene III is a fighter
The fact Greene has had a way-down-and-way-up year on the field adds more context here. He only played 32 snaps at Tennessee before leaving the game. He went on to miss the Alabama, Kentucky and Auburn games due to injuries.
When he missed that time, the Georgia offense wasn’t the same. When he returned at right tackle for the Ole Miss game, that’s when everything started to click offensively for the Dawgs.
Greene was an excellent left tackle for Georgia in 2023 as a redshirt freshman. He just had a time staying healthy last season, too. There have been some lingering back issues, but he comes from a family that rolls its sleeves up when things get hard.
The fact that his mother grew up a die-hard Crimson Tide fan is another thread. The Greenes were a “house divided” in California before their son got to UGA.
“Georgia has flipped me,” she said when he chose UGA in January of 2022.
The Dawgs beat Bama on the recruiting trail for Greene, among others. Nick Saban was the only person he let teach him to drive four years ago. The prized IOL prospect had little interest in it until Saban offered to teach him in his golf cart on a recruiting visit.
Greene had never beaten the Tide as a Bulldog. But that wasn’t what was on his heart in the joys of that 28-7 victory. He wanted to go see his Dad and make good on his vow to will the Dawgs to a win in the SEC Championship Game.
This is the NIL era. When third parties tried to gauge Greene’s willingness to enter the portal and leave Georgia over the years, he chose Dawg over dollar signs. He decided a long time ago he was red and black for life.
When her son signed with Georgia, his mother had a plan for what she’d do with all her Alabama gear.
“We are going to have a bit of a ceremony when we return home,” she said in January of 2022. “I have this crimson-colored Rubbermaid storage container. We are going to put it away like in a time capsule and then three and a half or four years from now, when he is getting ready to leave UGA, I will make a decision. I will then decide if I am then a permanent UGA fan or I can take my Alabama stuff out again.”
“I can’t part with it. I can’t take it to Goodwill. We have such good memories and good times with rooting for, cheering for, and following Alabama. Whenever Georgia and Alabama would play, even when Earnest was a baby, his father and I would be straight down the middle. A house divided.”
Greene’s time in Athens is not done, but that decision is.
“When I went home in October, I donated all that God-awful stuff to my good friend’s thrift store,” she said.
Pace-Greene had friends who opened a store where the proceeds would be reinvested in their local community.
How hard was it to part with her Crimson time capsule?
“Some poor soul will purchase all that horrible crimson,” she said. “At least the money will go to help families in need. My other alternative was to burn it. Does that answer your question? Go Dawgs! For life.”
This has been an amazing culture year for Georgia’s program. What Earnest Greene III and his family have endured is just one example of something special taking place throughout this football team.
For those who now wonder what purpose the SEC Championship Game serves in this convoluted playoff format, it meant a great deal to this family.
“My heart is full,” Pamela Pace-Green said after the SEC Championship victory.
Have you seen this week’s “Before the Hedges” weekly recruiting special on YouTube yet? Check it out below.
SENTELL’S INTEL
(Check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)
