Howard Payne University Athletics

Richard Green holds the Howard Payne record for most rushing yards in a career. As a standout player at Mart High School, he was recruited by Southwest Texas State, but didn’t play and enrolled in Howard Payne in the fall of 1997. Green played eight games as a freshman in an experienced HPU backfield, rushing for 425 yards and averaging 53.1 yards per game. He was named American Southwest Conference Honorable Mention and Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, he was named Second Team All-ASC. He had his best year as a junior, running for 1,307 yards and averaging 130 yards per game. Green was named All-American and First Team All-ASC. He rushed for 1,063 yards and scored 13 touchdowns as a senior, winning all-conference honors and becoming HPU’s all-time leading rusher. He also held several ASC records at the time. Green still holds Howard Payne records for rushing attempts in a season with 246, career rushing yards at 3,621, and career rushing yards per game average at 95.3 yards. He graduated from HPU 2001 with a B.S. in computer information systems and worked as a computer operations specialist with the McLennan County road and bridge department.