Chad Greenway

Chad Greenway (born January 12, 1983) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 11-year career as a linebacker with the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL).

He was named Gatorade Football Player of the Year as a senior in 2001.

also Argus Leader and Sports Max Player of the Year.

He also earned first-team All-conference honors for three straight seasons, as well as MVP honors.

He played quarterback and free safety and returned punts and kickoffs, helping prep team win two consecutive state titles as a junior and senior.

His career totals include 364 rushing attempts for 3,118 yards and 171-290 passes for 2,572 yards.

On defense, he recorded 407 tackles and 23 interceptions.

As a senior, he completed 62 of his 114 pass attempts for 1,147 yards and rushed for 1,320 yards at quarterback, and also added 132 tackles and four interceptions at safety.

Greenway also lettered in basketball, baseball and track & field at Mount Vernon.

He redshirted his freshman season in 2001.

Greenway attended the University of Iowa, and played for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team from 2002 to 2005.

As a redshirt freshman in 2002, he suffered a knee injury that required surgery and did not play in the first four games.

In 2003, he started at outside linebacker in all 13 games and was named second-team All-Big Ten.

Greenway was named the Big Ten Conference's joint Defensive Player of the Week vs. Arizona State, and won the Hustle Team Award at Iowa.

In 2004, he was named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Weekly, a second-team All-American by CNNSI.com, and a third-team All-American by CollegeSportsReport.com.

Within the conference, Greenway was named first-team All-Big Ten and selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player by Collegefootballnews.com.

Greenway was selected by the team as Iowa's Special Teams Player of the Year, won the Hustle Team Award for defense, and was one of three juniors selected to the team Leadership Council for 2004 season.

In 2005, Greenway was named preseason All-America by The Sporting News, NationalChamps.net, and was named to the preseason honorable mention All-America squad selected by NationalChamps.net.

He was ranked as the No. 2 outside linebacker by The Sporting News, and named to the Bronko Nagurski and Lott Trophy watch lists.

He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Greenway attended Mount Vernon High School in Mount Vernon, South Dakota, where he was a three-time South Dakota All-state performer, earning first-team honors as a junior and senior and third-team honors as a sophomore.

The Minnesota Vikings selected Greenway in the first round (17th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Greenway was the third linebacker drafted in 2006, behind Ohio State's A. J. Hawk (fifth overall) and Florida State's Ernie Sims (ninth overall).

On July 23, 2006, the Minnesota Vikings signed Greenway to a five-year, $10.75 million contract that includes $6.14 million guaranteed.

Throughout training camp, Greenway competed to be a starting outside linebacker against E. J. Henderson and Ben Leber.

On August 14, 2006, Greenway tore his ACL in his left leg while covering a kickoff in the first quarter of the Vikings' 16–13 loss to the Oakland Raiders in their first preseason game.

He subsequently missed his entire rookie season in 2006.

The Minnesota Vikings hired Leslie Frazier as their new defensive coordinator after Mike Tomlin accepted the head coaching position with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Greenway entered training camp slated as a starting outside linebacker.

Head coach Brad Childress named Greenway the starting weakside linebacker to begin the regular season, alongside Ben Leber and middle linebacker E. J. Henderson.

He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Minnesota Vikings' season-opener against the Atlanta Falcons and recorded ten combined tackles (four solo) in their 24–3 victory.

On November 18, 2007, he recorded seven combined tackles, a season-high two pass deflections, and made his first career interception off a pass by quarterback Daunte Culpepper during a 29–22 victory against the Oakland Raiders in Week 11.

In Week 12, Greenway made three solo tackles, a pass deflection, and returned an interception for his first career touchdown in the Vikings' 41–17 win at the New York Giants.

Greenway intercepted a pass by Giants' quarterback Eli Manning and returned it for a 37-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

On December 9, 2007, he collected a season-high 13 combined tackles (eight solo) during a 27–7 victory at the San Francisco 49ers in Week 14.

Greenway started all 16 games in 2007 and recorded 105 combined tackles (78 solo), four pass deflections, two forced fumbles, two interceptions, and one touchdown.

Head coach Brad Childress retained Greenway and Ben Leber as the starting outside linebackers in 2008, along with middle linebacker E. J. Henderson.

On September 21, 2008, Greenway recorded nine combined tackles and made his first career sack on quarterback Jake Delhomme during a 20–10 win against the Carolina Panthers in Week 3.

In Week 11, he collected a season-high 16 solo tackles, made a pass deflection, and a sack in the Vikings' 13–10 loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In Week 15, Greenway recorded seven combined tackles, a season-high three pass deflections, and a sack in a 35–14 win at the Arizona Cardinals.