CORPUS CHRISTI - On Thursday evening former NFL First Round Draft Pick William Green served as the guest speaker at the Goodwill Industries Employee Banquet. Green was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the 2002 NFL Draft.

The former Boston College standout struggled with off the field issues straight out of the gates testing positive for marijuana twice in college leading to a pair of suspensions.

When I spoke with the 33-year old he admitted to having a checkered past, but says it was that past that helped him become the man he is today.

"I lost both my parents at a young age to HIV and I had some struggles that helped me go backwards and then when I got older like a lot of young men I made mistakes but I had someone come around and say William it's not how far ya fall but how ya bounce back and it changed my life," said Green

He went onto tell me that speaking to members of the Goodwill Industries hit home for him, since Goodwill gives so many people second chances of their own.

Cleveland selected him as 16th overall pick in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. As a rookie in 2002, Green appeared in all 16 regular season games and started ten of them, gaining 887 yards and scoring six touchdowns. His 2003 season, however, was fraught with turmoil. After a good start with 559 yards, Green was arrested for drunk driving and marijuana possession. Green was also notoriously seen wearing one shoe and one sock during the arrest The arrest led to a four-game suspension under the league's substance abuse policy. While under suspension, Green's fiancee, Asia Gray, stabbed him in the back during a domestic dispute.The league extended his suspension through the end of the 2003 season "for treatment purposes."

Green tried to get back on track in 2004, but gained only 585 yards. That year he was also ejected prior to a game with the Pittsburgh Steelers for fighting with linebacker Joey Porter. Around this time, he had disclosed that he was having a child with a woman other than his wife.

His final season in Cleveland was an injury-plagued 2005 campaign where he appeared in eight games and gained only 78 yards. The Browns placed him on injured reserve at the end of training camp in 2006 and reached an injury settlement with Green allowing them to release him.

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