Inside and outside, Hopkins was athlete for all seasons
But there was one person who could make him do things he did not want to do.
Mother knows best.
“Because of a teacher’s strike at West Greene, my mother felt it was best for me to transfer to Waynesburg so I could be in school,” Hopkins explained. “I think she was tired of me being in the house. She said I was going to Waynesburg.
“I told her there was no way I was going to ‘join the enemy.’ The first day I went to Waynesburg, I came home, threw my bag on the floor and said, ‘I’m not going back.’
“Of course, mom won out. She knew best at that kind of thing.”
The move proved to be a good one for Hopkins and his athletic career.
He was a good running back at West Greene, along with being a solid wrestler.
He blossomed at Waynesburg.
Hopkins played quarterback for the Raiders under coach Jeff Metheny in 1989. The transition from running back wasn’t easy but Hopkins made the most of the move. He earned all-conference status.
Where he gained the most ground was on the wrestling mat.
He was an integral part of the Raiders’ WPIAL Class AAA championship team in 1989. It is Waynesburg’s lone Class AAA team championship.
What’s more, Hopkins advanced to the PIAA finals in 1989.
He won a 7-3 decision in the opening round before scoring consecutive 6-5 victories over Guy Horton of Neshaminy and South Western’s Steve Elicker, the latter in the semifinals.
Hopkins fell just short of winning gold at Hershey, dropping a 4-2 decision to North Allegheny’s Ray Brinzer in the finals.
He also went on to establish the Waynesburg record in the javelin with a throw of 195 feet, nine inches.
“I spent all my life in the West Greene School District playing against the kids from Waynesburg,” Hopkins said, “not helping them out.”
He admits, the change worked out.
“It was a life-changer for me, to be sure,” Hopkins said. “I don’t regret going to Waynesburg or not being able to finish out at West Greene.
“You learn things along the way. They are all my friends at both places. I still take heat to this day from some of my (West Greene) friends. I’m a turncoat to them. Still to this day it is hard to look back at that time in my life. It was not an easy transition. But we went on a new path.
“At first, I was just trying to fit in. They year I went there in wrestling was arguably one of the best teams ever at the school. It was pretty fun and we were pretty darn good. You make the state finals, it’s pretty easy to make friends. Dave Thomas won state that year. We had a really good squad.”
After wrestling season, Hopkins forged a relationship with Metheny and started turning his attention to college, favoring football but considering everything.
“I was still trying to fit in,” Hopkins said. “I was leaning toward football. I didn’t get a lot of opportunities but kind of narrowed my search to the (Pennsylvania) state schools. I went to a camp at Slippery Rock with Metheny. My mom went to Slippery Rock. I chose Slippery Rock and I got partial scholarships for football and wrestling.”
Hopkins was a three-year All-American wide receiver for the Rockets in football and also earned two letters and an alternate berth in the NCAA Division I regional tournament in wrestling. He earned a spot in the PSAC Championships in his lone season as a member of Slippery Rock’s track and field team.
He graduated from Slippery Rock as the school’s all-time leader in pass receptions with 215, pass receiving yards with 3,382 and receiving touchdowns with 28.
“I wouldn’t change anything,” Hopkins said. “Football and wrestling taught me so much and so many life lessons.
“It was definitely tough. I didn’t know if I was going to make it a couple times. My freshman year, I was strictly football and was redshirted. My sophomore and junior years, I did both. I’d work out for wrestling in the mornings before class and for football after class.
“It made for some long winters. It was not easy. My grades didn’t suffer but I didn’t excel. It was tough to keep up until I finally started doing OK.”
Hopkins did so well in the classroom that he earned GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American honors as a senior.
While he hoped and worked toward catching on with an NFL team, Hopkins eventually signed with Ottawa of the Canadian Football League.
“It was just a cup of coffee,” he said. “When I was released there, I thought it was the end of the world and my chance to play football was over.”
Then came Mike Dailey, head coach of the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League.
Overcoming a broken hand he suffered his first season with Albany, Hopkins ended up playing five seasons there, one in Indianapolis and five in Los Angeles. He was an Arena star.
Hopkins, who played receiver and linebacker, enjoyed an 11-year career in the Arena League. In 2002, he was the league’s “Ironman of the Year,” the highest individual honor in arena football. He retired from the league with a record eight interceptions returned for touchdowns. He was a four-time All-Arena selection, four-time all-Ironman selection and was part of the Arena Bowl XIII championship team in Albany in 1999 – voted the greatest Arena Football League team ever.
Hopkins finished with 1,222 points in 134 games, 213 TDs, 10,206 receiving yards and 26 interceptions in his career.
For his efforts on both sides of the ball, and his overall play, Hopkins was inducted into the Arena Football League Hall of Fame.
Dailey, who Hopkins credits for being an important influence in his life, said Hopkins was a superior player and person.
“I think he was a great football player,” said Dailey, who is currently the head coach at McDaniel College in Maryland. “He was forcefully competitive and possessed tremendous leadership skills. He is even a better person.
“Greg was a great teammate and he had great football skills. He is one of the greatest ever to play in the arena league on both sides of the ball. He was a complete player. As a person, he was likeable and affable. Everyone related to him and appreciated him, no matter what their background. Greg just had a great work ethic, practiced hard and always knew his assignments. He was highly respected.”
Hopkins said one of the coolest things to happen to him was to have his jersey (No. 82) retired by the Los Angeles Avengers at the Staples Center and have it hang with the jerseys of Los Angeles sports greats like Wayne Gretzky, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“To have your peers think that much of you and about you is icing on the cake and enjoyable,” Hopkins said. “That was emotional. To be up there with renowned athletes like them. I never expected that.”
Hopkins coached a few years with Dailey in Los Angeles.
“The moment I saw him when I scouted him, I knew he was a special player,” Dailey said. “It’s all about timing and being in the right place. In the right situation, Greg could have lasted in the NFL. It was always good to be around him.”
In addition to the Arena Hall of Fame, Hopkins is a member of the Slippery Rock Hall of Fame (2005) and Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (2009).
These days, Hopkins can be found working the morning shifts at his mom and dad’s (Dotty and Sam) general store in Nineveh, a store his grandfather started in 1946.
Hopkins’ family has lived in Nineveh for five generations and continues to own his grandpa’s house, store and cattle farm.
He and his wife, Stacy Roman, have an 8-year-old daughter, Shae, and an 6-year-old son, Mason. His wife owns her own business in Mt. Morris, just over the state line in West Virginia.
“As I look back, the state wrestling tournament is unique,” Hopkins said. “Going to the finals is a pretty big accomplishment. Wrestling was good for me and I actually had more recruiting opportunities in wrestling than football. But it all worked out.
“I enjoyed playing football more, but the lessons I learned and the success I had in football, I attribute to the toughness I gained in wrestling. In wrestling, you have to do it all yourself. You learn a lot when it’s basically up to yourself.”