SAN JOSE, Calif. – In August of 2017, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced that Noah Green had decided in December of the 2016 season to take a medical hardship and end his collegiate football career.

Green decided to step back after dealing having kidney surgery, but Swinney allowed him to keep his scholarship and continue his career as a student.

Since then the second-ranked Tigers have played in four College Football Playoffs and are set to play in their third National Championship on Monday in Santa Clara against No. 1 Alabama and Green, now in his final semester as a Clemson student, made the trip to the Bay Area to see his Tigers play.

Rather than suiting up on the field in his final season, he is taking the trip of a lifetime to tour the area and watch the game from the stands, and he isn’t feeling sorry for himself but enjoying every second of the ride.

Green was a three-star offensive tackle coming out of Boiling Springs High School (SC) when he signed as a member of the 2015 class and was an early enrollee. He entered Clemson with All-American Mitch Hyatt and right-guard Gage Cervenka.

His relationships with members of the team and time in camp and practice with these guys makes watching the game special and provides him with unique perspective.

“I was telling my family this week that knowing the guys that are out there makes it a little different than watching regular football on TV,” Green said. “Knowing that some of the starters were my roommates freshman year, gives me a little different perspective on everything,” he said.

He’s excited to see the Tigers take the biggest stage in college football once again and is hopeful they will walk away with a win.

“Each year gives you a different team than the year before and you can’t count on anything from the past,” Green said. “We haven’t seen these two teams matchup before so you can’t say for sure but I think Clemson is going to come out with a win.”

While the team is gearing up to land in the Bay Area tomorrow, Green is visiting family friends in Coulterville with his girlfriend. Later in the week they are going hiking in Yosemite, visiting the Redwood Forest and touring Alcatraz before settling in to watch the Tigers play.

Kickoff for the 2019 CFP National Championship Game is set at 8 p.m. EST on ABC in Levi’s Stadium.