Rangy Rainier Beach Receiver Hopes UW Notices the Faster, Taller Him

With his junior season just a couple of weeks away, Jaelin Green wants recruiters to see his physical gains.

Growing up, receiver Jaelin Green from Seattle's Rainier Beach High School loved Husky football. 

Family was involved. 

"My cousin Tre Watson was a defensive back for the Huskies," Green said.  "He told me how much he enjoyed it there."

Beyond lending support for Watson, Green's family was all about the purple and gold. 

"We have Husky football parties for every game," he said.  

Playing his high school football just two miles from the University of Washington campus, the 6-foot-5, 180-pound Green dreamed one day of playing his college ball in Husky Stadium.

However, the rangy receiver wasn't even sure if he'd get to enjoy his high school football this season as a junior until recently when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced that football practice could begin on February 1.

"It feels so good to put on pads and play again," he said.

During the time period in which he would normally have been playing football, Green said he was reflective about life without the game.

"It was hard on me at first just missing football," he recalled.  

He realized there was opportunity before him.

"I did a lot of working out on my own and it has paid off," he said

Green went through a growth spurt between the seventh and eighth grades and shot up five inches to 6-feet even. His growth has been more steady in adding another five inches.

"Because I grew so fast, I lost some of my speed," he said of continually adjusting his running form. "I used the shutdown to get my speed back to where it used to be."

Where it used to be is being uncoverable — especially in the red zone.

"I have a 36-inch vertical leap so a fade in the end zone usually works," he said.

With football taken away, Green said that he won't take the opportunity to play in the coming months for granted, hoping to impress his hometown Huskies.

"I'm going to play like there's no tomorrow," he said.  

He understands that tomorrow is hardly guaranteed.

"I want to show the hard work that I've put in," he said, "that I wasn't just sitting around."

Scouts will be watching Josh Conerly, his Rainier Beach teammate, long-time friend and a nationally recruited offensive lineman, and he hopes to piggyback on some that exposure.

"We've been best friends since we were 8 years old," Green said.

With his height, the wide receiver already stands out. Now with two football seasons to be played over the next 10 months, Green hopes his play becomes noticeable, too.