As someone who was born and raised in Clewiston, played high school football in the Glades, and eventually made it into the NFL, I am surprised by the recent news articles suggesting our environment and our air quality is anything but good. Interestingly enough, it seems like most of the complaints about are coming from either the same paid advocates who regularly attack the Glades over water and other issues as well as “experts” that live many miles away. Anyone that lives here knows farmers help, not hurt, our communities, and take all of the necessary steps to protect our resources.

I wasn’t a biology major in college, but anyone with a computer or a smartphone can go to AirNow.gov and easily see that the Glades communities have just about the best air quality you can have in the entire state of Florida. We don’t have traffic jams and millions of people, and everyone who lives here knows local farmers always go the extra mile to be good neighbors. They are our baseball and football coaches, team moms, members of our churches, service clubs and community organizations. What the activists and media do not realize is that when you try to divide our communities, we are going to speak up.

A couple of the paid spokespeople for the anti-cane burning campaign are also former football players that complain about air quality, and yet when given the choice to raise their kids in the Glades or somewhere else, they chose to raise them in the Glades. They didn’t seem to ever have concerns about air quality until the Sierra Club and wealthy trial lawyers from the coast showed up. Since then, they have been “crying” all the way to the bank.

In fact, Fred Taylor’s son Kelvin, went to high school in Belle Glade, where he set state records he still holds today. One of those records was Florida’s state rushing record, racking up more yards than Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith. If there were ever a concern – or a negative impact – from the Glades’ air quality, it would have prevented him from succeeding. He is one of the 100+ elite Glades athletes that eventually made it into the NFL. The very physically demanding nature of competitive high school, college and NFL football directly contradicts the claims that the Glades environment is somehow harming our Glades athletes. Particularly when you consider that both Taylor and his son were running backs, one of the most physically demanding positions in football and a position that requires overall fitness and endurance. The sheer number athletes and their athletic ability year after year speaks for itself.

Belle Glade is “Muck City” for a reason. Without that muck, we wouldn’t have farming and we wouldn’t have the jobs that sustain our communities. We value our farming like we value our faith and football, and no amount of false media reports or attacks from outsiders will ever change that.

My name is Eric Green. I am a former NFL cornerback, having played with the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers. I reside in Clewiston, where I’m raising my four children.