CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green will be on pins and needles the last week of September, and not because he'll be playing two games that week.
Green and his wife, Miranda, are expecting their first child, a boy, on Sept. 30, and with a little more than a month to go, he already knows he won't be missing his son's birth for any reason.
"I want to be there," Green said emphatically.
The Bengals host the Broncos on Sept. 25 and have a Thursday night game at home against the Dolphins on Sept. 29. The family's medical staff might induce labor if necessary.
"That's what we're thinking," he said. "That would be the Broncos week. That would be good since we'll be at home, but we'll see."
What would be the ideal day of birth?
"Anything but a game day," Green said, laughing.
The topic has come up a number of times in the last few years. In 2013 Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was warming up for a game against the Browns at the same time his second child was born (The Ravens won 14-6).
In 2015, he declined an invitation to the Pro Bowl to witness the birth of his third child. When asked at the time, Flacco said there was "zero" chance he would miss a regular-season game in that situation.
Pro golfer Hunter Mahan left $1 million on the table in 2013 when he walked away from the Canadian Open, despite leading at the time, to witness his daughter's birth.
The decision is different for every athlete. For Green, who also missed Thursday's practice to attend a doctor's appointment with his wife, there is no real choice.
"This is my first one, so there's no way I could miss that. No way," he said.