Adriel Jeremiah "A. J." Green (born July 31, 1988) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, earning first-team All-American honors before being selected by the Bengals with the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. He is regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of his era.
In his first season with the Bengals, Green made the 2012 Pro Bowl becoming the first rookie receiver to make a Pro Bowl appearance in eight years, and went on to accumulate a total of seven Pro Bowl appearances throughout his career. From 2011 to 2013, Green caught more passes (260) than any other player in NFL history during their first three seasons, a record that was later broken by Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. (288). He had six seasons with 1,000 or more receiving yards.
Green signed with the Cardinals in 2021, having finished his Bengals career ranked second in franchise history, behind only Chad Johnson, in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, and receptions. On September 16, 2023, Green signed a one-day contract with the Bengals to retire with the team.
When Green was age 4, his older brother and only sibling died in a car wreck on the way to a school carnival. Green was on his elementary school's juggling team, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he learned to juggle as early as second grade. Green said he could juggle as many as four items at once, and that the ability helped the development of his hand-eye coordination.
Green attended Summerville High School in Summerville, South Carolina, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. He played as a wide receiver for the Summerville Green Wave football team, under coach John McKissick. He was widely considered to be one of the top national football prospects of the Class of 2008 and was listed #1 by Sports Illustrated. Green earned All-State honors four times and was the only junior nominated to the 2006 USA Today All-American first-team following 75 receptions for 1,422 yards and 16 touchdowns during his junior season. Green was also selected as a member of the Rivals.com Junior All-America team based on those stats. As a freshman, he had 57 receptions for 1,217 yards and eight touchdowns. As a sophomore, he had 60 catches for 1,203 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Green's 5,373 career receiving yards rank second in the all-time career receiving records of the National Federation of High Schools. His 279 career receptions rank fourth. In June 2006, Green was profiled by Sports Illustrated as part of its "Where Will They Be?" stories documenting athletes with the potential of becoming a future great, alongside Peter Uihlein, John Tavares, Tyreke Evans, Elena Delle Donne, and others. Sports Illustrated compared him to the then-Oakland Raiders wideout Randy Moss and predicted Green will be in the NFL by 2011. Green was also on the school's track & field team, where he competed as a long jumper (top-jump of 19 ft 6 in) and triple jumper (40 ft 0 in).
Rivals.com ranked Green as their No. 9 prospect for the high school class of 2008, while Scout.com named Green their No. 10 prospect nationally. He participated in the Under Armour All-America Game.
Green was also on the Summerville High high school basketball team that claimed the 2007–2008 South Carolina state championship in a championship game against Spartanburg (S.C.) High. The game was played in memory of their fallen assistant coach, Captain Louis Mulkey of the Charleston Fire Department in South Carolina, who died responding to a fire with eight other firefighters on June 18, 2007.
Green verbally committed to attend the University of Georgia in October 2006, and made his commitment official by signing a letter of intent to play at Georgia on February 6, 2008. He played for coach Mark Richt's Georgia Bulldogs football team from 2008 to 2010.
Green had a solid freshman season for the 10–3 Georgia Bulldogs in 2008. He joined a wide receivers unit that contained Mohamed Massaquoi, Michael Moore, Kris Durham, and Demiko Goodman. In the fourth game of his college career, against Arizona State, Green had eight catches for 159 yards and a touchdown in the 27–10 victory. For this, he was named SEC Player of the Week. On October 18, against SEC East rival Vanderbilt, he had seven receptions for 132 receiving yards in the 24–14 victory.
He finished the 2008 season with 56 catches for 963 yards and eight touchdowns, all Georgia freshman school records. He also led the SEC in receiving yards, with the third-highest total in UGA school history. He was named second-team All-SEC and Freshman of the Year by the SEC coaches, and was named to the Associated Press All-SEC first-team.
As a sophomore, Green became the top option for the Georgia wide receivers group that added newcomers Tavarres King and Rantavious Wooten. Green saw similar opportunities production-wise as a sophomore in Georgia's 8–5 season. On September 19, he had seven receptions for 137 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in a 52–41 victory on the road against Arkansas. He followed that up with eight receptions for 153 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in a 20–17 victory over Arizona State in the next game. On November 14, against Auburn, he suffered a left shoulder injury, which kept him out of the remaining regular season games. He returned for the 2009 Independence Bowl, December 28, in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he made six catches totaling 57 yards in the 44–20 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies. Green ended the 2009 regular season with 53 catches for 808 yards and six touchdowns, leading the team in all those categories despite missing time due to injury.
Among other awards, Green was elected All-SEC First-team by Associated Press, SEC Coaches, ESPN, Phil Steele, and Sporting News.
Green's junior season started off tumultuous due to a compliance issue. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2010 regular season after he admitted to selling his 2009 Independence Bowl Jersey for $1,000 to former North Carolina defensive back Chris Hawkins, who the NCAA described as an agent or someone who markets amateur athletes. As part of his punishment, he was required to repay $1,000 to a charity. Green returned from the suspension on October 2 and had seven receptions for 119 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in a 29–27 road loss to Colorado. On November 6, against Idaho State, he had six receptions for 103 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in the 55–7 victory. In the following game against rival Auburn, he had nine receptions for 164 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in the 49–31 road loss. Green finished Georgia's 6–7 season with a team-high 57 catches for 848 yards and nine touchdowns.
On January 9, 2011, Green officially declared for the 2011 NFL draft. He finished his three seasons at the University of Georgia with 166 receptions for 2,619 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Green was selected in the first round with the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He became the highest drafted wide receiver in Georgia school history, breaking the mark set by Lindsay Scott, who went 13th overall in 1984. On July 28, 2011, Green agreed to a four-year contract with the Cincinnati Bengals worth $19.6 million. After signing with the Cincinnati Bengals, Green became a member of School of the Legends (SOTL) in 2011. Green was featured in the 2011 NFLPA Rookie Debut "One Team" Celebration which streamed live on YouTube from New York City's Cipriani Wall Street. The event was produced by SOTL, a licensed partner of the NFLPA, and employed YouTube's live streaming platform.
Green's first NFL reception was a 41-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Bruce Gradkowski against the Cleveland Browns in the Bengals' 2011 regular season opener, a 27–17 victory. In the following game, Green recorded his first 100-yard game with ten receptions for 124 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in a 24–22 loss to the Denver Broncos. By the end of his rookie season, Green recorded four 100-yard games and led all NFL rookies in receptions and receiving yards, catching 65 passes for 1,057 yards in 15 games. His seven touchdown receptions were second among rookies – one behind Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons. On December 18, 2011, Green and fellow rookie quarterback Andy Dalton surpassed the all-time NFL record for yards and receptions by a rookie quarterback/receiver tandem. One week later on December 24, 2011, Green's 1,031 yards surpassed Cris Collinsworth's franchise record of 1,009 yards set in 1981 for most receiving yards by a rookie. Green made his playoff debut in the Wild Card Round against the Houston Texans. In the 31–10 loss, he had five receptions for 47 receiving yards. Green earned a Pro Bowl nomination for his rookie season in addition to being named to the NFL All-Rookie Team. He was ranked 77th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2012.