Green back with Pack

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Ahman Green couldn’t hang up his helmet, not after the way things ended in Houston.

Now Green is back with the Green Bay Packers, volunteering to take a reduced role in exchange for the chance to write a new ending to what had been a standout career until he left in 2007.

Green, who has been out of football since the Texans cut him in February, signed a deal Wednesday to return to the Packers.

“If I knew I was done with this sport, it’d have been over,” Green said. “No debating, no arguing, no mulling over, thinking about it. I probably would have come here and signed a 1-day contract to retire as a Packer, call it quits. But just something was missing after these past two years that I didn’t want to quite finish that way.”

The way my career was in Houston, I didn’t want that to basically become my legacy.”

Before signing a four-year, $23 million deal with the Texans in 2007, Green played seven seasons in Green Bay and made four straight Pro Bowl appearances between 2001 and 2004. With 8,162 career yards rushing with the Packers, the former Nebraska college star needs 46 more to surpass Jim Taylor and become the franchise’s all-time leading rusher.

It’s the second time in a week the Packers have reached into their past to add a veteran presence to their team after signing veteran right tackle Mark Tauscher last week.

The moves make it seem like the Packers are loading up for a run at the Super Bowl — the 2004 Super Bowl.

But Packers coach Mike McCarthy said the team believes Green and Tauscher still can be productive players.

“The starting point of bringing both Mark and Ahman back was they’re good football players, and that’s something we like to think we never lose sight of,” McCarthy said. “We’re very fortunate that they also have history here, so you feel good about that.”

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