A six-mile stretch of Route 28 in Loudoun County has been named for another 28 -- retired Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green.

The Virginia General Assembly voted in March to name the portion of Route 28 from the Dulles Toll Road to Waxpool Road after Green, who wore No. 28 for 20 years before retiring at the end of the 2002 season.

Green, his family and friends and state officials gathered at the Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon on Wednesday for an official unveiling of four green-and-white road signs that say "Darrell Green Boulevard."

"What an incredible honor," Green said. The honor, he said, "is not one of saying, 'Hey, guys, look at Darrell Green. He ran well.' " But rather, he said, it was an honor that would remind people of Green's contributions to the community.

"For all of my life since being a kid, I wanted to have an impact. . . . When word came that this would be passed, I began to think I didn't live my life in vain." Green paused as he began to choke up.

Green said he and his wife, Jewell, moved to Ashburn more than a decade ago because they wanted "to raise our children in an active, communal environment where you run next door and play with the kids next door."

The Greens have given back to Loudoun by starting the Top 10 Program at Broad Run High School, for example. The program focuses on educational, emotional and social development of young men. The couple also started a college fair for minority students at the school.

These days, Green, 43, runs his Youth Life Foundation, which he founded in 1988. The foundation operates a learning center for local children in Northeast Washington and plans to expand to open additional centers in the area, including Herndon, and across the country.

"It's unusual that someone has something named after them while they are still alive," said Green's friend, Brett Fuller, a Herndon pastor and the Redskins' chaplain. "The danger in naming stuff for someone who is alive is you might have to rename it before they die."

But that would not happen with Darrell Green Boulevard, Fuller said. "You can have confidence that if your kids have a jersey with 28 on it, you won't have to make them take it down."

State Sen. William C. Mims (R-Loudoun) sponsored legislation creating Darrell Green Boulevard and spoke at the ceremony.

"There are so many people who excel athletically but not that many who excel in every aspect of their life," Mims said of Green. He recalled Green's first regular-season appearance, against Dallas in 1983, when Green attracted the attention of Redskins fans by sprinting across the field and tackling Cowboys star Tony Dorsett who was headed for the end zone.

"When Darrell Green walked onto the floor of the Senate, we were like 10-year-olds in the presence of a hero," said Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D). The vote to name Darrell Green Boulevard, he said, was unanimous.

"What an incredible honor," said ex-Redskins player Darrell Green of the street renaming.Darrell Green and wife, Jewell, dedicate the new Darrell Green Boulevard, a six-mile stretch of road. They have made several contributions to the area.