NFL Hall of Famer Ahman Green, former running back of Wisconsin’s Green Bay Packers and current Esports Head Coach at Lakeland University, has become the 11th speaker in the lineup for the inaugural CEC/EIC Northeast Summit, to be held in Atlantic City on October 18-19, hosted by the Casino Esport Conference (CEC) of Las Vegas and the Esports Innovation Center (EIC) of New Jersey’s Stockton University.
Green, an esports entrepreneur and longtime player, was named the first coach of Lakeland University’s new esports program. The Packers’ all-time leading rusher has always been a gamer, dating back to playing ColecoVision when he was a child, according to the summit organizers. As he eventually became a decorated player for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers, Tecmo Super Bowl and Madden NFL ’97 were two of the games that kept Green rooted in esports.
“This has been a lifelong passion for me, and I am excited to get the opportunity to come to Lakeland in this new role and grow the university’s program from the ground up,” said Green, a broadcast personality for the professional eSports team Tempo Storm. “It is amazing how quickly eSports is growing, and how much it has evolved over the years I have been playing. I’m looking forward to talking to gamers about Lakeland and all the university has to offer as we build this program.”
During his 12-year NFL career, Green was a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro player. He has been inducted into both the Nebraska and Green Bay Halls of Fame. After retiring from professional football in 2009, Green’s interest and personality in the gaming and esports industry grew as he hosted a weekly esports talk show, True Game Fans Network.
Lakeland’s co-ed team will debut this fall and be a member of the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), which serves as the governing body of more than 150 colleges and universities and sets standards for eligibility and conduct for collegiate esports.
Green joins a speaker roster for October in Atlantic City that already confirmed Anthony Gaud, CEO and founder of Gaud-Hammer Gaming Group (G3); Anthony Strangia, Deputy Attorney General with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE); Seth Schorr, Chairman of Downtown Grand; Eric Weiss, former DGE and current Vice President of Technical compliance at Odds On Compliance; Sari Kitelyn, Director of Esports + Project Development for Full Sail University; Eloisa Marchesoni, a “self-made Crypto-entrepreneur”; Daniel Cossi, President and Chairman of WESCO (World Esport Consortium); Andrew Weilgus, Executive Director of the Esports Innovation Center; and CEC co-founders and executive producers, Ari Fox and Ben Fox.
The new educational event will feature conversations about how the esports industry specifically fits into the conversation of the casino industry. Organizers said it will also discuss esports from a non-casino viewpoint and tackle the competitive collegiate, High School, and elementary levels at which esports has been affecting the next generations of competitors. It will also show future landscapes of new businesses that will be birthed from this event for professional-level esports.
