VIEW FROM THE EAST: NORTH TEXAS The new American

[Jonnyeagle]

Know the foe: North Texas Mean Green

What is now the University of North Texas began as Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute in 1890.

The name changed to North Texas Normal College in 1894.

From 1901 to 1923, the institution was known as North Texas State Normal College.

The campus in Denton, TX, was called North Texas State Teachers College from 1923 to 1949. The name was shortened to North Texas State College in 1949.

The transition to university status took place in 1961. The name was North Texas State University until 1988, when State was dropped.

North Texas system

The North Texas University system also has locations in Dallas, Fort Worth and Frisco.

Frisco, coincidentally, is where James Madison won the Football Championship Subdivision title in 2017 with a 28-14 victory over Youngstown State when Pirates coach Mike Houston was directing the Dukes.

There were 32,596 undergraduates in the fall of 2021 and 9,776 postgraduates.

Location

Denton is located about 40 miles northwest of Dallas.

The driving distance from Greenville, NC, to Denton is 1,300 miles. Driving time is 18 hours, five minutes.

Mascot, colors

North Texas has had an eagle for a mascot since 1922.

The mascot’s nickname is Scrappy.

School colors are green and white.

Nickname

North Texas teams are nicknamed Mean Green.

The nickname developed when the 1966 football team was second nationally in rush defense.

Defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was a sophomore on the 1966 team.

read more: https://bonesville.net/2023/02/03/the-new-american-part4-north-texas/

[greenminer]

We need more and more people to understand that Joe Greene was not "Mean" until he got to Pitt.

When he was playing in Denton, he was "Big Joe"

[Greenrex]

Wow! I think maybe a child wrote that article.

[NT80]

42 minutes ago, greenminer said:

We need more and more people to understand that Joe Greene was not "Mean" until he got to Pitt.

When he was playing in Denton, he was "Big Joe"

The Missouri Valley Conference would strongly disagree with you...

[greenminer]

48 minutes ago, NT80 said:

The Missouri Valley Conference would strongly disagree with you...

 

Not sure if this is serious. I would love to see evidence of him being called Mean Joe Green dated 1968 or earlier.

[DeepGreen]

The photo NT80 posted says it all.  I was at that game against Cincinnati.  Great game and Joe Greene was stellar………all……..day………long!

[Rudy]

8 hours ago, Greenrex said:

Wow! I think maybe a child wrote that article.

Yeah, it's their one page essay, done on a Sunday night, due at the first of class on Monday.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Rudy

[letsgiveacheer]

EZU as we used to call them.

The one big thing they have going for them is fan support. There is literally nothing to do, related to sports, in eastern Carolina and the entire region has embraced the Pirates. 

The first time I lived in North Carolina was following my graduation from North Texas in 1975. I was posted to an Air Force base in nearby Goldsboro and dated a young lady who was a student at East Carolina. We attended some football games and while their stadium seated 35,000, it was hard to find tickets. This was all the more impressive as ECU was not playing major college football at that time,

Now, their stadium seats 50,000 and is often sold-out, especially when they are playing other North Carolina universities.

 

[Jonnyeagle]

19 minutes ago, letsgiveacheer said:

EZU as we used to call them.

The one big thing they have going for them is fan support. There is literally nothing to do, related to sports, in eastern Carolina and the entire region has embraced the Pirates. 

The first time I lived in North Carolina was following my graduation from North Texas in 1975. I was posted to an Air Force base in nearby Goldsboro and dated a young lady who was a student at East Carolina. We attended some football games and while their stadium seated 35,000, it was hard to find tickets. This was all the more impressive as ECU was not playing major college football at that time,

Now, their stadium seats 50,000 and is often sold-out, especially when they are playing other North Carolina universities.

 

They sort of remind me of Memphis as they have a solid base of local support.  

[Matt from A700]

13 hours ago, Jonnyeagle said:

The name was North Texas State University until 1988, when State was dropped.

The North Texas University system

Come on!

[UNTcrazy727]

12 hours ago, greenminer said:

We need more and more people to understand that Joe Greene was not "Mean" until he got to Pitt.

When he was playing in Denton, he was "Big Joe"

Does it matter? Most people know him as Mean Joe, not Big Joe. 

The article doesn't say we got the nickname from him. That's all we should worry about. 

[Rudy]

20 minutes ago, Matt from A700 said:

Come on!

Again, when they are cramming their one page essay that's due in 3 hours, you can't expect complete and accurate research.   

[greenminer]

36 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

Does it matter? Most people know him as Mean Joe, not Big Joe. 

The article doesn't say we got the nickname from him. That's all we should worry about. 

If I'm some big media mouth who thinks UNT got it's moniker from Joe, this article does nothing to question or challenge that.  It says right there, sophomore Mean Joe Greene played on the 1966 team.

It doesn't say Big Joe was a sophomore on the 1966 team.  I get that this is a gray area, an area where the author isn't specifically  saying he was Mean Joe back in 1966, but if we want people to know the correct origin of our name, we can be picky about usage.

This isn't Greenminer shaking his fist at the author, screaming "Get it right, dude!"

I'm just saying, I wish more people knew he was Big Joe while in Denton.  That would help the cause.
 

[NT80]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

It doesn't say Big Joe was a sophomore on the 1966 team.  I get that this is a gray area, an area where the author isn't specifically  saying he was Mean Joe back in 1966, but if we want people to know the correct origin of our name, we can be picky about usage.

I'm just saying, I wish more people knew he was Big Joe while in Denton.  That would help the cause.
 

He was 10 years before my time on campus, but I never knew or saw a reference to him being called "Big Joe" at North Texas.  in fact, his real name is Charles, not Joe.   His Aunt started calling him Joe, but not Big Joe,  as a reference to his size and Joe Louis the famous boxer back then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Greene

[greenjoe]

Randy Galloway wrote an article while he was with the Dallas Morning News talking about the North Texas defensive line.  He mentions each one and does a little story about how mean (even anti-social) each is.  I haven't read the article in years (decades?) but I don't recall anyone ever referring to Joe Greene as Big Joe.  I am ready to be corrected.   

[DeepGreen]

It was Mean Joe Greene.  Not "Big" Joe Greene.  This is the first time I've heard "Big" used in Joe's name.

[greenminer]

4 hours ago, greenjoe said:

Randy Galloway wrote an article while he was with the Dallas Morning News talking about the North Texas defensive line.  He mentions each one and does a little story about how mean (even anti-social) each is.  I haven't read the article in years (decades?) but I don't recall anyone ever referring to Joe Greene as Big Joe.  I am ready to be corrected.   

Hey Green Joe, I run a website dedicated to our Mean Green Moniker.  I don't have a ton of resource$ to make it look pretty, but Randy himself was kind enough to give me permission to put the digital transcription up.  He was very clear in our communications about Big Joe being Big Joe.  It was also clear how much he loved covering that team and talking about Fry.
 

Quote

The most heralded Eagle defender has been junior tackle Joe Greene, a 6-4, 280-pound All-America candidate.  But against Cincinnati two weeks ago, Big Joe was slowed by an ankle injury and wasn’t up to his usual par. Nonetheless, the potent Bearcat offense only got one touchdown against the Mean Green, that on a tipped pass that went for 60 yards.

https://meangreenmoniker.com/thearticle/

@DeepGreen

@FirefightnRick I still have your digital scan somewhere.  I'll dig it up.  I could have sworn I put it up on the site for people to click/download.

I will maintain this until I see otherwise: we are NOT named AFTER Joe Greene.  Randy feels that way too.  We might be called Mean Green because of Greene's play, but we are not named after him.

Edited February 7, 2023 by greenminer

[greenminer]

BTW, here's the header from the article/page.  Always thought this was hilarious.

[Glory to the Green]

10 minutes ago, greenminer said:

BTW, here's the header from the article/page.  Always thought this was hilarious.

This is fantastic!  It’s my first time seeing this. Thank you for sharing. 

[DeepGreen]

Those were some badass football stars.

Edited February 7, 2023 by DeepGreen

[greenminer]

Our brand is growing, Mean Green Nation.  We are spending unprecedented amounts on our football program, as well as our department in general.

We have one of the best coaches in our school history leading our basketball program.

Eric Morris is going to lead our football program to new heights.  Coach O and Co are going to put our footprint on the DFW high school recruiting market.  We will no longer be ignored or unknown in the nations best resource for football talent.

Jared Mosely, the perfect AD for us, has been hired and will be leading us into the top G5 conference in the land.

Why do I bring all of this up? We need to be passionate as ever about 1) Getting our history right, and 2) Getting our name right.  Tell people about Big Joe, not just Mean Joe.  Stomp your foot (adult like), look people in the eye, and explain to them that it has been 30+ years since we were called North Texas State and it's about damn time they stopped calling us that.

The time is now.  Love y'all.  Go Mean Green.

Edited February 7, 2023 by greenminer

[NT80]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

Hey Green Joe, I run a website dedicated to our Mean Green Moniker.  I don't have a ton of resource$ to make it look pretty, but Randy himself was kind enough to give me permission to put the digital transcription up.  He was very clear in our communications about Big Joe being Big Joe.  It was also clear how much he loved covering that team and talking about Fry.
 

https://meangreenmoniker.com/thearticle/

@DeepGreen

@FirefightnRick I still have your digital scan somewhere.  I'll dig it up.  I could have sworn I put it up on the site for people to click/download.

I will maintain this until I see otherwise: we are NOT named AFTER Joe Greene.  Randy feels that way too.  We might be called Mean Green because of Greene's play, but we are not named after him.

"Big Joe" sounds like context or just a description used by Galloway after he mentions in the previous sentence in that article of him being 6-4, 280 to describe the size of Greene, but I do not believe anyone else called him that.  I have not seen or heard of it any other time.

You and others are correct in that the nickname "Mean Green" is in reference to the play of our defense back then and not specifically a nickname of Joe Greene then.

Here is one version of the Mean Green nickname origin from Randy Cummings, DRC...

https://meangreensports.com/sports/2018/7/6/trads-MeanGreen-html

Here is another variation of how the Mean Green nickname evolved...

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/08/mean-green-mean-joe-green-nickname-origins

Edited February 7, 2023 by NT80

[SilverEagle]

11 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

Those were some badass football stars.

....who no one ever heard of at the time.....including Joe Greene.  Here is the complete story.

The Origin Of The Mean Green - University of North Texas Athletics (meangreensports.com)

 

[FirefightnRick]

Thank you @greenminer for keeping our history straight and how Joe was never referred to as “Mean” Joe Greene until after a Pittsburgh sports writer would call him that a season or two later.  To Steeler fans he was entirely unknown.  Here’s two articles from the Pittsburgh press clippings after the 1969 draft in which  disgruntled fans expressed their negative opinions about Knole’s pick of the unheard of D lineman from an unheard of school, one quoted with “it’s a typical Steeler pick”.

 

 

Rick

Edited February 7, 2023 by FirefightnRick

[NT80]

26 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

Thank you @greenminer for keeping our history straight and how Joe was never referred to as “Mean” Joe Greene until after a Pittsburgh sports writer would call him that a season or two later.  To Steeler fans he was entirely unknown.  Here’s two articles from the Pittsburgh press clippings after the 1969 draft in which  disgruntled fans expressed their negative opinions about Knole’s pick of the unheard of D lineman from an unheard of school, one quoted with “it’s a typical Steeler pick”.

 

 

Rick

A few things I learned from those articles:

- Joe Greene was selected #4 in that 1969 NFL Draft by Pittsburgh, only 3 spots after O.J. Simpson.  Fun fact:  There were 17 draft rounds then, 442 players drafted.  Only 5 players ended up in the Hall of Fame, O.J. and Greene were two.

- Penn State coach Joe Paterno turned down the Pittsburgh job and Chuck Noll got it.  Would Greene have been drafted by Paterno?   

-Many Pittsburgh fans questioned Noll about drafting Greene, who most there had never heard of.  I bet they know him now and are very glad Noll drafted him.