When Charlotte called themselves....“the Mean Green.” 😳

[PlummMeanGreen]

This is from a 1977 ABC News piece as reported by Barbara Walters.   

Wonder who told this NC school’s officials that there was already a Mean Green in Texas?

 

Edited October 23, 2019 by PlummMeanGreen

[TheColonyEagle]

[TheTastyGreek]

I had no idea Joe Greene played there. 

[ttunt1970]

The moniker MEAN GREEN was for the 1968

defense that Joe was a part of with Cedric Hardeman , Chuck Beatty, James Ivy ect. When Joe was drafted by Pittsburgh they saw the nickname and started using Mean Joe Greene

[drex]

ttunt1970, you get a gold star.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Wonder when UNT got around to getting “MEAN GREEN” copyrighted?

 

[NTFan11]

Yeah, how long ago was  Mean Green copyrighted? Anyone know?

[drex]

Not sure when it was copyrighted, but it was licensed with all other North Texas products in the late 80's.

[FirefightnRick]

3 hours ago, ttunt1970 said:

The moniker MEAN GREEN was for the 1968

defense that Joe was a part of with Cedric Hardeman , Chuck Beatty, James Ivy ect. When Joe was drafted by Pittsburgh they saw the nickname and started using Mean Joe Greene

They.....being the Pittsburgh media well over a year or two after he was a steeler.  

Prior to seeing him play the Pittsburgh media was extremely critical of Chuck Knoll for “wasting” their top draft pick on such an unknown.

 

Rick

[TheTastyGreek]

3 hours ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

Wonder when UNT got around to getting “MEAN GREEN” copyrighted?

 

I had no idea Joe Greene worked for a cleaner and degreaser company. 

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

9 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

They.....being the Pittsburgh media well over a year or two after he was a steeler.  

Prior to seeing him play the Pittsburgh media was extremely critical of Chuck Knoll for “wasting” their top draft pick on such an unknown.

 

Rick

They would find out soon enough. Hilarious how every year it's "___ was available and we took this guy instead" only to eventually eat crow... unless you are a Jets fan

[meaniegreenie]

9 hours ago, TheTastyGreek said:

I had no idea Joe Greene worked for a cleaner and degreaser company. 

No, it was an AD's wife that saw her husband washing the car and then...

[97and03]

The nerve of those guys!

 

Everyone knows Michigan State is the Mean Green. Right, ESPN? 

[UNTexas]

29 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

The nerve of those guys!

 

Everyone knows Michigan State is the Mean Green. Right, ESPN? 

That kinda funny a few years back.

[SilverEagle]

15 hours ago, ttunt1970 said:

The moniker MEAN GREEN was for the 1968

defense that Joe was a part of with Cedric Hardeman , Chuck Beatty, James Ivy ect. When Joe was drafted by Pittsburgh they saw the nickname and started using Mean Joe Greene

 

15 hours ago, drex said:

ttunt1970, you get a gold star.

I'll give him a Silver star for a good try. 

The Moniker was indeed for the North Texas defense, but it started around mid-season of 1966 and picked up momentum after that. 

Here is a story written by Randy Cummings after Sidney Graham (the mother of the Mean Green moniker) died

The Origin Of The Mean Green

 

 

Courtesy of Randy Cummings, Denton Record-Chronicle

It's doubtful Sidney Sue Graham could have ever imagined the day her enthusiastic, unbridled cheering in the stands for the 1966 North Texas State University football team would evolve into one of college athletics' catchiest nicknames.

Sitting in the stands of Fouts Field with friends and the wives of NTSU's coaching staff, Graham merely was yelling support for the Eagles' defense -- at the time statistically one of the nation's top-ranked units -- while NTSU (now the University of North Texas) was trailing against Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso).

She knew her team, dressed in its home green-and-white uniforms, was better than the score indicated.

"We were way behind and she started hollering, 'Come on green, get mean,' or 'Here we go, mean green,' or variants on that," recalled Mark Graham, one of her three sons. "Then it became popular with some of the students and some of the other fans. So it caught on."

Graham, a longtime journalist who was a lifestyle editor for the Denton Record-Chronicle, quickly became proud of the "Mean Green" cheer she had inspired and thought it would be a good, albeit unofficial, nickname for the team's defense. So she proposed the idea of promoting the nickname to her husband, Fred Graham, who was the school's sports information director.

"The story I've always been told was that Dad said, 'That's way too corny,'" Mark recalled.

However, Fred decided to insert the nickname deep down in one of his weekly press releases about the team later that season. The media picked up on it, and the nickname soon found itself in print on a regular basis when stories referred to the team's defense in 1967. By 1968, it was used for the entire football team.

Over the years, the birth of the Mean Green moniker has been mistakenly linked to one of the era's star defensive players, Joe Greene. Graham always insisted she was yelling support for the defensive squad and came up with the phrase based on the school's primary color.

"Mom and Dad always said that she was referring, when she started that, to the North Texas defense at a game where they were losing to [Texas Western]," Mark said. "That's what they always told me.

"She always said it was never intended to be about Joe Greene," he added. "She would make a point of saying that Joe is not mean at all. [She'd say,] 'He's a great player, but he's as nice a guy as you'd ever want to meet.' So she was sensitive about that. She felt bad that he got that nickname and that she felt like it was her fault."

Actually, after Greene was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, it apparently was the NFL team's local media that launched his "Mean Joe Greene" nickname upon learning he played collegiately for the "Mean Green" Eagles.

The Mean Green label was primarily a secondary reference for the football team until Hayden Fry was hired as head coach and athletic director in 1973. He immediately embraced the distinctive nickname and promoted it as the team's main handle along with unveiling a new uniform color scheme -- lime green -- as well as a modernized eagle helmet logo.

While Sidney Graham always took pride in her role of creating the Mean Green nickname, she wasn't a fan of the brighter shade of green or the new logo -- often called the "flying worm" -- that the school featured throughout the 1970s.

"I remember when the flying worm came about, she wasn't real crazy about that," said Mark. "And she wasn't pleased about the lime green. After Dad passed [in 2009], we went to a few UNT games and she was so pleased later when they went back to the traditional green. That made her happy."

After Rick Villarreal was named athletic director in 2000, every UNT sports team took on the Mean Green nickname. Today, it's the university's trademarked nickname, while the eagle remains the official mascot.

Sidney Sue Graham died April 19, 2018, at the age of 83.

[jredallas]

15 hours ago, drex said:

Not sure when it was copyrighted, but it was licensed with all other North Texas products in the late 80's.

Word Mark	MEAN GREEN
Goods and Services	IC 018. US 001 002 003 022 041. G & S: [ Backpacks, fanny packs, wallets, and ] athletic bags. FIRST USE: 20080600. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20080600 IC 021. US 002 013 023 029 030 033 040 050. G & S: Housewares and glass, namely, cups, mugs, [ steins, ] beverage glassware; barware, namely, [ flasks, ] trivets [, alcohol and wine decanters ] ; [ wine bottle chillers, namely, ice buckets; ] [ china, namely, plates, cups, bowls and serving dishes; ] crystal, namely, [ high ball glasses, ] shot glasses, beverage [ and wine ] glasses; [ coasters, namely, coasters not of paper and other than table linen; ] coolers, namely, portable beverage coolers, [ coolers for wine, ] [ ice coolers ] ; [ trays, namely, butler's trays, ] [ serving platters ] [, crumb trays and serving trays; barware accessories, namely, wine bottle openers, drink shakers and stirrers; ] and concession cups made of [ paper and ] plastic, and sport bottles sold empty. FIRST USE: 20050400. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050400 IC 022. US 001 002 007 019 022 042 050. G & S: Tents. FIRST USE: 20080600. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20080600 IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: Clothing, namely, men's unisex T-shirts; men's and unisex outerwear, namely, raincoats, [ overcoats, ] jackets, sweaters, pullovers, headwear; [ men's and unisex combo packages, namely, shirts and pants; ] jerseys; uniforms; infant and toddler apparel, namely, pajamas, jackets, shirts, [ shorts, ] pants, [ hats, ] jumpers, rompers, layettes and one-piece garments; youth apparel, namely, [ pajamas, ] jackets, shirts, [ shorts, ] pants, [ hats and jumpers ] ; men's fashion apparel, namely, [ coats, jackets, ] shirts, pants and hats; women's apparel, namely, pajamas, coats, jackets, shirts, shorts, pants, skirts and hats; men's and unisex fleece pullovers [, tops and vests ] ; [ men's and ] unisex loungewear and sleepwear; [ men's and ] unisex performance apparel, namely, [ shorts, shirts, ] hats, t-shirts, sweat shirts and sweat pants; * men's performance apparel, namely, shorts, shirts, hats, t-shirts, sweat shirts and sweat pants; * clothing accessories, namely, [ scarves, ] socks [ and ties ] ; structured closed back headwear; [ structured stretch fit headwear; unstructured closed back headwear; ] [ adjustable wool blend headwear; ] and adjustable non wool headwear. FIRST USE: 20050400. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050400 IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: [ Balloons; toys and sporting goods, namely, baseball and softball accessories, namely, baseballs, softballs, batting tees, gloves, mitts, bats and batting gloves; basketball accessories, namely, basketballs and backboards; bowling accessories, namely, bowling bags, balls and gloves; fishing accessories, namely, tackle boxes, rod and reels and rod cases; ] football accessories, namely, [ gloves, knee pads, leg pads, shoulder pads and ] footballs; golf accessories, namely, golf ball tees and markers, [ gloves and divot repair tools, golf bags, golf clubs, ] golf balls; [ billiard accessories, namely, balls, racks and cues; ] collectible balls, namely, footballs, basketballs [, baseballs and soccer balls ] ; competition sport balls and leather sport balls, rubber balls [, foam sport balls; pumps for inflating sports equipment, namely, footballs, soccer balls, plush sports and toy balls, vinyl sports and toy balls; ] [ dolls; ] plush mascot toys; [ action figures; flying discs; ] games, namely, board games [, playing cards, puzzles, parlor and memory games; stand alone and arcade-type video game machines; hand-held mobile video games with liquid crystal displays ]. FIRST USE: 20050400. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050400 IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Educational services, namely, providing college and graduate level courses of instruction and seminars [, and educational internships to participate in research programs ] ; and entertainment services, namely, providing intercollegiate-athletics sport games and providing cultural and arts events [, musical concerts and organization of exhibits for musical entertainment and performances of dramatic works ]. FIRST USE: 20050400. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050400
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code	(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number	85140080
Filing Date	September 28, 2010
Current Basis	1A
Original Filing Basis	1A
Published for Opposition	November 1, 2011
Registration Number	4086208
Registration Date	January 17, 2012
Owner	(REGISTRANT) University of North Texas state university TEXAS 1501 Chestnut Street Denton TEXAS 76203
Attorney of Record	Daniel J. Chalker
Type of Mark	TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register	PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE ===============================   Word Mark MEAN GREEN Goods and Services IC 014. US 002 027 028 050. G & S: Jewelry, namely, lapel pins, watches, tie tacks, cuff links, bracelets, charms, earrings, necklaces, pendants, and fan rings. FIRST USE: 20090600. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20090600 IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: Paper goods and printed materials, namely, cards, namely, business cards, greeting cards, graduation announcement cards, post cards, note cards; notepads; stickers; paper labels; stationery; rubber stamps; photo albums, scrapbooks and accessories, namely, decorative paper; and money clips. FIRST USE: 20090600. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20090600 Standard Characters Claimed   Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK Serial Number 85140099 Filing Date September 28, 2010 Current Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1B Published for Opposition December 6, 2011 Registration Number 4214539 Registration Date September 25, 2012 Owner (REGISTRANT) University of North Texas state university TEXAS 1501 Chestnut Street Denton TEXAS 76201 Attorney of Record Daniel J. Chalker Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). Live/Dead Indicator LIVE   =============================   Word Mark MEAN GREEN Goods and Services IC 026. US 037 039 040 042 050. G & S: Buttons; Novelty buttons; Shirt buttons. FIRST USE: 20090700. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20090700 Standard Characters Claimed   Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK Serial Number 85520417 Filing Date January 19, 2012 Current Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Published for Opposition May 1, 2012 Registration Number 4175727 Registration Date July 17, 2012 Owner (REGISTRANT) University of North Texas state university TEXAS 1501 W. Chestnut Street Denton TEXAS 76201 Attorney of Record Daniel J. Chalker Prior Registrations 4086208 Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). Live/Dead Indicator LIVE   ==============================   Word Mark MEAN GREEN Goods and Services IC 024. US 042 050. G & S: blanket throws. FIRST USE: 20100600. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20100600 Standard Characters Claimed   Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK Serial Number 85422251 Filing Date September 14, 2011 Current Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Published for Opposition January 10, 2012 Registration Number 4118698 Registration Date March 27, 2012 Owner (REGISTRANT) University of North Texas Board of Regents of the University of North Texas System. state university TEXAS 1501 Chestnut Street Denton TEXAS 76201 Attorney of Record Daniel J. Chalker Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

Edited October 24, 2019 by jredallas

[TheTastyGreek]

4 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

 

I'll give him a Silver star for a good try. 

The Moniker was indeed for the North Texas defense, but it started around mid-season of 1966 and picked up momentum after that. 

Here is a story written by Randy Cummings after Sidney Graham (the mother of the Mean Green moniker) died

The Origin Of The Mean Green

Courtesy of Randy Cummings, Denton Record-Chronicle

It's doubtful Sidney Sue Graham could have ever imagined...

I had no idea Joe Greene wrote for the Denton Record-Chronicle under a pseudonym.

[drex]

I am amazed that every reference to Joe Greene in this post spelled his name correctly.

[TheTastyGreek]

24 minutes ago, drex said:

I am amazed that every reference to Joe Greene in this post spelled his name correctly.

I had no idea Jo Greene was a difficult name to spell. 

[rws69]

On 10/23/2019 at 6:42 PM, ttunt1970 said:

The moniker MEAN GREEN was for the 1968

defense that Joe was a part of with Cedric Hardeman , Chuck Beatty, James Ivy ect. When Joe was drafted by Pittsburgh they saw the nickname and started using Mean Joe Greene

From the 1968 Yucca (yearbook) describing the 1967 team:

"They produced all this, and they produced a new name, the "Mean Green."