Joe Greene Statue "Update"

Mean Green 93-98 · July 1, 2016

17 minutes ago, Tyler Maryak said:

Sure, makes sense. But the facts, as I see them, are:

I asked RV what would happen with this project now that he's leaving and got a non-answer. The only other person involved is George Dunham, who has only directly responded to my phone calls, emails, or texts (about this project) one time. Not upset about it, he's a busy guy, it's just unlikely that he would respond to me if I brought it up again.

It's likely that no progress will be made on this for several months more and it's entirely possible that nothing will come of it at all (barring UNT fan intervention). After all, we were supposed to unveil this plan at the Spring Scrimmage and we see how well we stuck to that timeline. So I'm not outing something that is happening so much as saying what might have been.

Just since I first joined the circle (triangle?) four months ago, how many times have people brought up on here the need for such a project? Maybe this project would be better led by fans and alumni than the AD and maybe what I know now could provide some help/direction in making it happen.

I can see what you mean, but I didn't decide this morning to blab about this to be a cool kid, I brought it to our fan base after several attempts to communicate with RV (and Mr. Dunham once as well), waiting several weeks, and seeing numerous posts about making a project like this happen. I didn't make a call on a whim. I considered the implications and deemed the possibility of making the project a reality greater than the importance of keeping it a secret from Mr. Greene for two more months instead of him maybe finding out now from a (sorry, Harry) largely non-credible source.

That ended up being longer than intended.

Fair enough.

DeepGreen · July 1, 2016

1 hour ago, trud1966 said:

Honoring Joe Greene is a No-Brainer, his name alone practically promotes itself. ....Should've been done this 25 years ago, so people will GLADLY dig in their pockets for this. Hell, you could probably spearhead a GoFundMe account for this and have the money in a month. This kind of feature will, believe it or not, will actually be a reason for people to come to the games to see it, pose with it for pictures. The actual "unveiling" of the statue/wall event with Joe Greene present would get a ton of media attention.

Like the idea of the wall behind him with engravings of other images/players. Another idea would be to incorporate some of the motifs that were up on Fouts that were removed...

The reliefs from Fouts field should have been incorporated into Apogee Stadium when it was being built. There were two sets of four each at Fouts. My idea was to have them set in the brick wall along the sidelines of Apogee. If they are still available UNT could still place them in Apogee. These are part of UNT's athletic history. And God knows we need some kind of athletic history to look back on besides beating Tennessee back in the day.

greenjoe · July 1, 2016

Correct me if I'm wrong (As if there's any shortage of correcting done on GMG) but due to the location of the reliefs in the walls of Fouts, wouldn't Fouts have to be demolished to get the reliefs out, to put them into Apogee ? Drive by the remaining side of fouts and see if this isn't correct.

I really like the idea of a bronze to Joe "Mean Joe" Greene. First, aren't there a bunch of world class artisans working at North Texas right now that could handle such a project ? Why farm this out to some guy from LSU when we could do it "in house" likely faster and cheaper. Second, would this be a great opportunity to permanently dispel the false rumor that the "Mean Green" is named after "Mean Joe Geeene ?"

I would help support such a project.

GO MEAN GREEN (Joe Greene, too)

Ibleedgreen · July 1, 2016

The motifs from Fouts Field that Tyler posted tell the history of NT athletics. They are depictions of actual award winning athletes, such as Elmer and Delmer Brown, twins who qualified for the Olympics in track. When the decision was made to build the new stadium, I was assured (by folks on this board) that they would be kept and used at Apogee. Wondered where they were...they are a treasure and should be shared.

My apologies...it was trud1966 who mentioned the reliefs from Fouts, not Tyler.

DeepGreen · July 1, 2016

58 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

Correct me if I'm wrong (As if there's any shortage of correcting done on GMG) but due to the location of the reliefs in the walls of Fouts, wouldn't Fouts have to be demolished to get the reliefs out, to put them into Apogee ? Drive by the remaining side of fouts and see if this isn't correct.

I really like the idea of a bronze to Joe "Mean Joe" Greene. First, aren't there a bunch of world class artisans working at North Texas right now that could handle such a project ? Why farm this out to some guy from LSU when we could do it "in house" likely faster and cheaper. Second, would this be a great opportunity to permanently dispel the false rumor that the "Mean Green" is named after "Mean Joe Geeene ?"

I would help support such a project.

GO MEAN GREEN (Joe Greene, too)

greenjoe, I would suspect that those reliefs were held in place with mortar, thus making them easily removed with todays modern masonry saws, etc. I wonder if the reliefs on the Fouts side that was demolished were saved? If not, what a shame. That's what happens when a non "greenblood" is running things. Those reliefs should have been saved. So much history.

Reading my original post I would like to set the record straight. It was not my original idea to save the reliefs for Apogee. Someone else came up with the idea during the initial construction of Apogee. Not sure who it was but they should be given credit for an outstanding idea. Sadly no one listened.

greenjoe · July 1, 2016

Deep, It seems I saw them pictured all crated up here or somewhere. I would have expected them to show up before now. They would be a good connect for the Mean Joe bronze between Fouts and Apogee.

GO MEAN GREEN

DeepGreen · July 1, 2016

7 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

Deep, It seems I saw them pictured all crated up here or somewhere. I would have expected them to show up before now. They would be a good connect for the Mean Joe bronze between Fouts and Apogee.

GO MEAN GREEN

So they were saved. Great! I would donate to the cause if we could incorporate all 8 of them into the interior walls of the playing field at Apogee.

Ibleedgreen · July 1, 2016

I would, too. I would also donate to a fund to use them in conjunction with a statue of Joe Greene.

Harry · July 1, 2016

med_res

courtesy UNT digital library: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth163995/m1/1/?q=joe greene

DeepGreen · July 1, 2016

Thanks for the Joe Greene pic Harry. During my stint at NTSU, I had the pleasure of watching Joe play for the "Eagles". What an awesome player!

North Texas Shep · July 1, 2016

34 minutes ago, Harry said:

courtesy UNT digital library: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth163995/m1/1/?q=joe greene

I would love it if they used this stance for the statue. Not a rich man but I have 20 on it.

Side Show Joe · July 2, 2016

14 hours ago, Harry said:

courtesy UNT digital library: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth163995/m1/1/?q=joe greene

Since we are all laying our cards on the table, I'll go ahead and share this. I made this life sized Joe Greene bust for the athletic department back in 2013. It was based on the above photo that Harry posted. KRAM was a big help with communicating with the athletic department and getting this thing cast.

I studied under Scott Myers, one of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's sculptors. I've taken a few commissions over the last few years. I was commissioned by TCU to create a bronze sculpture for their College of Education in Palko Hall, and I also created a sculpture of Fort Worth billionaire Richard Rainwater.

JoeGreene 1.JPG

The plan was to have this Greene sculpture installed in the south end zone, and eventually add one of Abner Haynes and Ray Renfro. The Haynes bust has been about 80% finished since 2014. I know RV had a lot of other things on his plate, but I wish this project had not been pushed back. As a die North Texas alum, I would love to finish this project, and would certainly enjoy creating a life sized statue. I hope the next AD chooses to push Tyler's Greene project forward, regardless of who gets the commission to sculpt it.

Edited July 2, 2016 by Side Show Joe

Mean Green 93-98 · July 2, 2016

1 hour ago, Side Show Joe said:

Since we are all laying our cards on the table, I'll go ahead and share this. I made this life sized Joe Greene bust for the athletic department back in 2013. It was based on the above photo that Harry posted. KRAM was a big help with communicating with the athletic department and getting this thing cast.

I studied under Scott Myers, one of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's sculptors. I've taken a few commissions over the last few years. I was been commissioned by TCU to create a bronze sculpture for their College of Education in Palko Hall, and I also created a sculpture of Fort Worth billionaire Richard Rainwater.

The plan was to have this Greene sculpture installed in the south end zone, and eventually add one of Abner Haynes and Ray Renfro. The Haynes bust has been about 80% finished since 2014. I know RV had a lot of other things on his plate, but I wish this project had not been pushed back. As a die North Texas alum, I would love to finish this project, and would certainly enjoy creating a life sized statue. I hope the next AD chooses to push Tyler's Greene project forward, regardless of who gets the commission to sculpt it.

Very impressive!

Tyler Maryak · July 2, 2016

1 hour ago, Side Show Joe said:

Since we are all laying our cards on the table, I'll go ahead and share this. I made this life sized Joe Greene bust for the athletic department back in 2013. It was based on the above photo that Harry posted. KRAM was a big help with communicating with the athletic department and getting this thing cast.

I studied under Scott Myers, one of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's sculptors. I've taken a few commissions over the last few years. I was been commissioned by TCU to create a bronze sculpture for their College of Education in Palko Hall, and I also created a sculpture of Fort Worth billionaire Richard Rainwater.

The plan was to have this Greene sculpture installed in the south end zone, and eventually add one of Abner Haynes and Ray Renfro. The Haynes bust has been about 80% finished since 2014. I know RV had a lot of other things on his plate, but I wish this project had not been pushed back. As a die North Texas alum, I would love to finish this project, and would certainly enjoy creating a life sized statue. I hope the next AD chooses to push Tyler's Greene project forward, regardless of who gets the commission to sculpt it.

That's incredible! I really look forward to getting a new guy in the AD and getting this project finished. Like so many things UNT, it seems like all the pieces are right there, they just need to be put together.

FirefightnRick · July 2, 2016

Very nice SSJ.

Rick

Side Show Joe · July 2, 2016

Thank you guys for the kind words. I really enjoy sculpting portraits. Especially those of North Texas alumni. I'll try and post a photo of the Abner Haynes bust. It's about an 80% finished clay model right now. I think the Haynes bust looks better then the one I did for Greene.

I recently moved, and just bought a house 2 days ago. Once I get my new studio up and running, I'm going to finish it. Maybe the next AD will want to continue this project.

UNT90 · July 2, 2016

10 hours ago, Side Show Joe said:

Since we are all laying our cards on the table, I'll go ahead and share this. I made this life sized Joe Greene bust for the athletic department back in 2013. It was based on the above photo that Harry posted. KRAM was a big help with communicating with the athletic department and getting this thing cast.

I studied under Scott Myers, one of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's sculptors. I've taken a few commissions over the last few years. I was been commissioned by TCU to create a bronze sculpture for their College of Education in Palko Hall, and I also created a sculpture of Fort Worth billionaire Richard Rainwater.

The plan was to have this Greene sculpture installed in the south end zone, and eventually add one of Abner Haynes and Ray Renfro. The Haynes bust has been about 80% finished since 2014. I know RV had a lot of other things on his plate, but I wish this project had not been pushed back. As a die North Texas alum, I would love to finish this project, and would certainly enjoy creating a life sized statue. I hope the next AD chooses to push Tyler's Greene project forward, regardless of who gets the commission to sculpt it.

Seems like the former AD started lots of projects and finished few.

I dread what the audit of the AD will turn up.

Great work SSJ. Maybe the next professional, motivated athletic director will not only get this project finished, but raise enough money to compensate you fairly for your work.

Edited July 2, 2016 by UNT90

UNT90 · July 2, 2016

27 minutes ago, Side Show Joe said:

Thank you guys for the kind words. I really enjoy sculpting portraits. Especially those of North Texas alumni. I'll try and post a photo of the Abner Haynes bust. It's about an 80% finished clay model right now. I think the Haynes bust looks better then the one I did for Greene.

I recently moved, and just bought a house 2 days ago. Once I get my new studio up and running, I'm going to finish it. Maybe the next AD will want to continue this project.

Maybe I missed it, but is the Mean Joe Greene bust displayed anywhere currently? Or are you just hanging on to it hoping the AD finishes the project?

Also, these are the types of things that Sicuro and Trip Keune need to be aware of when evaluating the AD.

greenjoe · July 2, 2016

Now you see, we have our own North Texas Alum that is an experienced bronze statue maker. Plus, he has been used by other schools and we can see his work there. We don't need some stinkin' LSU artist. Plus, JOE Greene, Side Show JOE and me, JOE. It's obviously fate.

Shop locally.

GO MEAN GREEN

FirefightnRick · July 2, 2016

We got some crazy-talented sumbitches in our alumn family.

Do you know how categorically bad ass it would be if 7 to 8 feet of this was looking out over you, greeting fans as they entered the stadium?

Rick

Edited July 2, 2016 by FirefightnRick

Side Show Joe · July 2, 2016

6 hours ago, UNT90 said:

Maybe I missed it, but is the Mean Joe Greene bust displayed anywhere currently? Or are you just hanging on to it hoping the AD finishes the project?

Also, these are the types of things that Sicuro and Trip Keune need to be aware of when evaluating the AD.

I personally delivered the sculpture to RV the day of the "Great Halloween Victory" over Rice, back in 2013. With Fox Sports 1 there, security was tight around the athletic center that day. I don't know what RV has done with it, but I imagine it is somewhere in the athletic center. I haven't seen it since I delivered it.

Side Show Joe · July 2, 2016

5 hours ago, greenjoe said:

Now you see, we have our own North Texas Alum that is an experienced bronze statue maker. Plus, he has been used by other schools and we can see his work there. We don't need some stinkin' LSU artist. Plus, JOE Greene, Side Show JOE and me, JOE. It's obviously fate.

Shop locally.

GO MEAN GREEN

Thanks for the endorsement, greenjoe.

Brian Hanlon sculpted the Shaq statue for LSU. He was a great choice for the project. Hanlon is the official sculptor at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His studio is located in New Jersey.

There are very few portrait sculptors out there. It isn't the focus of most sculpting programs, so most universities don't have an alum that can do it. I could and would do the job for less then Mr. Hanlon.

greenjoe · July 2, 2016

What an exciting project. I don't know that I've ever met a person depicted in bronze. Lincoln was before my time and that was copper.

Do I assume that the sculpture is of NTSU Joe Greeneand not of Pittsburg Steelers Joe Greene ?

i know it would spoil the surprise, but I bet we could "pass the hat" at all our home games this year and get enough to finance this project. Get the Cheerleaders to pass a bucket along each row during the first quarter. That way, everyone could say they helped "tackle" this worthwhile project.

GO MEAN (Joe) GREEN

Christopher Walker · July 2, 2016

On 7/1/2016 at 0:21 PM, Tyler Maryak said:

The original timeline was to unveil the idea at the Spring Scrimmage and start the public fundraising phase right then and there. That was the most disappointing busted timeline. But the hope was, at that point, that if we started fundraising that day, we would unveil the statue by Homecoming.

I'm glad @Side Show Joe decided to show his contributions (finally, bud!). I believe when he and I last spoke about it, he indicated those sort of of large-scale life-sized statues would take upwards of a year if not more to create.

greenjoe · July 2, 2016

Well, He's been gone since 1968. That's 48 years. Another year or so shouldn't make that much difference. Maybe by the 50th anniversary of his last game at NT.