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The View From Up North: Meet Tim Green (Lawyer, Novelist, TV Host, ex-NFL Player)

Chase your passions, don't let convention stand in your way, and you might someday have a career like this inspiring lawyer.

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Time for another in my series of posts about lawyers doing fun and interesting things with their lives.

As you daydream in your office about dumping the wonderful practice of law, let’s do a little quiz. The save-you-from-the-practice fairy waves her magic wand and presents you with three amazing choices to escape the billable hour:

A. Play Linebacker in the NFL;

B. Bestselling author; or

C. Television host of a syndicated entertainment show.

Pretty good choices, huh?

Meet lawyer Tim Green. He’s all three. That’s right, he played linebacker and defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons. He’s a television personality who once hosted A Current Affair. And, he’s written thirty books, including some terrific thrillers. For those of you saying, oh sure, he’s an ex-NFL player, they get everything handed to them — I can promise it’s not the case with Tim. I’ve read his thrillers, The Fourth Perimeter and The Fifth Angel, and I can vouch that Tim is a gifted writer. He earned his impressive book sales through hard work and a natural writing talent that he refined through a lot more hard work.

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Several years ago, Tim stopped writing thrillers and switched to sports-themed novels for 8-to-12-year-olds. That’s the genre on which he currently focuses his writing energies.

Most amazingly, with all that on his résumé, Tim still practices law.

What up with that?

Because I’m an inherently curious fellow, I had to find out, so I spoke to Tim. Here is a lightly edited recap of our conversation:

Steve Dykstra: Your website says you had two dreams as a kid: to play in the NFL and to become a bestselling author. You must feel pretty blessed.

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Tim Green: I do feel blessed. I had a lot of coaches and mentors who helped me.

SD: Playing football and writing books don’t generally go hand in hand. What do you think was going on in your head as a youngster that you had those two dreams?

TG: Those were my passions. I loved sports, football especially. I was good at it. I had a mean streak that found an outlet on the field and helped me be a better person off the field. As much as I loved football, I was deeply passionate about reading. I didn’t know this then, but I do now, that when people read it’s weightlifting for the brain. It makes you more mentally acute. It makes us more compassionate and understanding. That’s a big component to happiness and success.

SD: Most lawyers I know are trying to escape the practice of law. You’ve been an NFL player, a television host, a bestselling author. Why do you still practice law? What do you love about it?

TG: There was a time when I first started writing when I first retired from the NFL, I thought it was great — I would just sit around and write books. But, I found that I enjoyed life more the busier I was. I really liked writing. But, I didn’t enjoy it as much when writing was the only thing I was doing. That’s when I got into a rainmaker role with a law firm [Barclay Damon].

I had a high profile and it helped open doors for me. I enjoyed that. I enjoy people. I enjoy problem solving. And the question, how can we as a law firm become valuable to the client?

My law practice is interesting because I am focused on client development and client services. My role is to go get clients and to integrate other lawyers into the matters and then provide oversight and quality control so that I am a conduit between the client and the firm. It takes a lot of time. I am always available. When a client has an issue, I answer those calls. I problem solve and troubleshoot. That fits my personality.

SD: How did you manage to play football and go to law school at the same time? [Ed. note: Tim attended Syracuse Law during the NFL offseason.]

TG: To get to the [NFL], if you’re getting your degree at school and you’re a serious student, you’re really working hard and long hours. When I got to the NFL and had my first offseason, I kind of squandered it. I partied a lot. I felt like I wasted a lot of time.

I kind of looked around to figure out what I could do to make myself marketable when I left the NFL. I decided to go to law school. It really wasn’t hard at all to go to law school and do my work outs [to stay in shape for the NFL season].

SD: How do you find the time to do everything you do?

TG: I am busy. I enjoy it. I enjoy working for the law firm. I enjoy writing. I enjoy speaking.

SD: Why the switch to youth fiction? You’re a very talented thriller writer.

TG: Thank you. You know, it was just circumstance. I was going along as a thriller writer. Then all of a sudden, Harper Collins asked if I would write a kids book. I had a lot of fun writing it. The first one hit the bestseller list. All of sudden, I found in that space that I’m having a lot of success and a lot of fun.

When you go on tour for an adult book, it’s okay. But, it’s nothing like going into a gym with five hundred kids and they’re yelling your name. A lot of people have asked me if I’m going to write thrillers again. I say, maybe. I don’t know. I feel like I found a place that I enjoy.

***

Here are my takeaways from chatting with Tim:

1. Man, is he busy.

2. He chases his passions and he does what he wants with his life. He doesn’t let convention stand in his way.

3. He’d be an easy guy to hate (NFL, author, TV host; jeez!) except he’s so nice, patient, and accommodating. I finished our conversation thinking, what a terrific guy. Candid admission: I have a man-crush on him. If my wife would let me, I’d date him.

4. You and I will never be Tim Green.

5. But, we can certainly chase our dreams with the same kind of passion and dedication Tim does. Did I mention he’s married with five kids? Married, five kids, practices law, writes, speaks, works in television. If he can do all that, there’s no excuse for you and me not to chase our dreams, right?

For those of you who have sports-loving tweens, Tim’s next novel, Kid Owner, will be in bookstores in October. It’s the story of a 12-year-old boy who inherits the Dallas Cowboys (now valued by Forbes at $3.2 billion).

That’s the View From Up North. Hope you have a dream-chasing week.

Steve Dykstra is a Canadian-trained lawyer and legal recruiter. He is the President of Keybridge Legal Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm that places lawyers in law firms and in-house roles throughout North America. You can contact Steve at steve@keybridgerecruiting.com. You can also read his blog at stevendykstra.wordpress.com, follow him on Twitter (@IMRecruitR), or connect on LinkedIn (ca.linkedin.com/in/stevedykstra/).

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