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Trent Green suffered one of the cruelest injuries ever inflicted on a football player in the summer of 1999.

Green was going to be the quarterback of the St. Louis Rams but tore up his knee on a sack late in the preseason and wound up spending the year on injured reserve.

Unheralded free agent Kurt Warner stepped in for Green and passed for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns, winning NFL MVP honors and leading the Rams to their first Super Bowl title.

That could have been Green, should have been Green. Dick Vermeil, the Rams' coach that season, would later say he thought Green could have done those same things in that Rams offense. But it wasn't Green – it was Warner.

Warner became the face of the Greatest Show on Turf, taking the Rams to a second Super Bowl and also winning a second league MVP award in 2001. He earned three Pro Bowl selections, won two NFL passing titles and now ranks third on the league's all-time passing list.

Quietly, Green left St. Louis for Kansas City in 2001, and he has also quarterbacked the Miami Dolphins since then. But he was released by the Dolphins last off-season in a roster purge by Bill Parcells and resurfaced, ironically, with the Rams.

Nine years after losing an opportunity in St. Louis, Green has gained an opportunity with the Rams. St. Louis coach Scott Linehan is benching Marc Bulger in favor of Green today when the 0-3 Rams host the Buffalo Bills.

"I wish we were 3-0 and the offense was playing great, the defense was playing great and none of these changes would be necessary," Green said. "But this is the position we are in, and I'm appreciative that Scott has turned to me."

Bulger has been to two Pro Bowls but hasn't been able to get untracked this season with a patchwork offensive line and a receiving corps minus Isaac Bruce for the first time in 14 years. Bulger has yet to throw for 200 yards in a game, and his two interceptions have offset his two TD passes.

AP

At 38, Trent Green is set to step in for Marc Bulger as starting quarterback for the 0-3 Rams.

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Green also has been to two Pro Bowls, both with the Chiefs. His offensive coordinator in Kansas City, Al Saunders, is now calling the plays for the Rams.

Green knows the Saunders offense as well as Saunders himself. Green is one of only four quarterbacks in NFL history to string together three consecutive 4,000-yard passing seasons, joining Hall of Famers Dan Fouts and Dan Marino plus Peyton Manning.

But Green did it from 2003 to 2005. He didn't throw for 3,000 yards in his last two seasons combined with Kansas City in 2006 and Miami in 2007. He's 38 now and fragile, having missed 19 games the last two years with concussions.

But better late than never.