Story by Jacob Holmes
Former Notre Dame women’s basketball player Danielle Green will be awarded the Pat Tillman Award at this year’s ESPYS in July.
Green played for Notre Dame from 1995-2000, and joined the Army after college. She had unsuccessfully tried out for the Detroit Shock, and worked as a teacher and coach before enlisting.
Green was deployed to Iraq, where in 2004 she lost her lower left arm in a rocket-propelled grenade attack. Today, Green works as a supervisory readjustment counseling therapist at the South Bend Vet Center. She works with veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, readjustment disorders and depression.
The Pat Tillman Award is named for the former NFL player who left the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army along with his brother. Tillman was killed in Iraq in 2004, just a month before the attack that caused Green’s injury.
Green’s success with Notre Dame and her work with veterans in South Bend were listed as reasons for her selection. She is only the second recipient of the award. Last year the award went to retired Marine Sgt. Josh Sweeney, who played on the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team. The ESPYS will take place on July 15.
