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Mean Green 93-98 · September 24, 2023

How he adopted the names 'Joe' and 'Mean Joe'

Greene was part of a dominant defense at North Texas State University (which is now the University of North Texas). During the 1966 season, members of the team's coaching staff started a chant in support of the defense that would later become the school's official nickname.

"We were way behind and (his mother) started hollering, 'Come on green, get mean,' or 'Here we go, mean green,' or variants on that," recalled Mark Graham, the son of then North Texas State sports information director Fred Graham, via the school's website. "Then it became popular with some of the students and some of the other fans. So it caught on."

The media began referring to the Eagles' defense as "Mean Green" in print in 1967. The nickname became used for the entire team in 1968. In 2000, each sports team at the school took on the Mean Green nickname. For Greene, the nickname followed him to Pittsburgh, who selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 1969 draft.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/joe-greene-turns-77-six-amazing-facts-about-steelers-greatest-player-of-all-time/

Edited September 24, 2023 by Mean Green 93-98

drex · September 24, 2023

I got a memo from Dr Hurley's office in the late 80's that we were not to use Mean Green on stationary, or anything official from our office. He wanted Eagles..not Mean Green Eagles, not Mean Green, just Eagles...go figure his logic.

KingDL1 · September 24, 2023

1 hour ago, drex said:

I got a memo from Dr Hurley's office in the late 80's that we were not to use Mean Green on stationary, or anything official from our office. He wanted Eagles..not Mean Green Eagles, not Mean Green, just Eagles...go figure his logic.

Well, he was retired Air Force.

It looks like the Mean Green outlasted him.

I believe he handed me my diploma when I walked at the pit.

GrayEagle · September 24, 2023

Here we go again.

The "Go Mean Green" was not coined by Joe's mother; it was coined (sort of) by Sidney Sue Smith Graham, the wife of Sports Information Director Fred Graham. Actually Sidney said "Get Mean, Green!" She told Fred that he should use it in his press/publicity releases. Fred first said "It sounds too corny" but later relented and started using it. It caught on and the rest is history as they say.

I believe that it was Fred that changed the "Get" to "Go."

UNTLifer · September 24, 2023

25 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

Here we go again.

The "Go Mean Green" was not coined by Joe's mother; it was coined (sort of) by Sidney Sue Smith Graham, the wife of Sports Information Director Fred Graham. Actually Sidney said "Get Mean, Green!" She told Fred that he should use it in his press/publicity releases. Fred first said "It sounds too corny" but later relented and started using it. It caught on and the rest is history as they say.

I believe that it was Fred that changed the "Get" to "Go."

I had to read it twice because I thought it meant this, but it is referencing Mark Graham’s mother not Joe’s. The article is correct.

2 hours ago, drex said:

I got a memo from Dr Hurley's office in the late 80's that we were not to use Mean Green on stationary, or anything official from our office. He wanted Eagles..not Mean Green Eagles, not Mean Green, just Eagles...go figure his logic.

He presided over the name change of Scrappy to Eppy. “Mean” Green, along with Scrappy, was just way too violent for him. Should have never named the Administration Bldg for him.

SilverEagle · September 24, 2023

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

I had to read it twice because I thought it meant this, but it is referencing Mark Graham’s mother not Joe’s. The article is correct.

He presided over the name change of Scrappy to Eppy. “Mean” Green, along with Scrappy, was just way too violent for him. Should have never named the Administration Bldg for him.

Way to violent for a retired Air Force General? Wasn't the Viet Nam era B-52 bombing wing's motto "Death from Above"?

If this is true, the late Curtis Lemay would have been very embarrassed by him. Curtis Lemay was the Army Air Corp's version of General Patton......only a little more crazy.

Mean Green 93-98 · September 24, 2023

I think some of the "anti-athletics" stuff about Dr. Hurley gets overstated around here. If we want to blame him for presiding over the name change from Scrappy to Eppy, we also have to give him credit for presiding over the name change from Eppy back to Scrappy. I don't think it was that he was anti-athletics, per se. Just more that he was clueless about athletics. Academics was his forte, and he was content to focus in that direction while turning over athletics to others. And if you look at what he did for the university outside of athletics, he was one of the best chancellors/presidents we ever had.

JT Hammons · September 24, 2023

5 minutes ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

I think some of the "anti-athletics" stuff about Dr. Hurley gets overstated around here. If we want to blame him for presiding over the name change from Scrappy to Eppy, we also have to give him credit for presiding over the name change from Eppy back to Scrappy. I don't think it was that he was anti-athletics, per se. Just more that he was clueless about athletics. Academics was his forte, and he was content to focus in that direction while turning over athletics to others. And if you look at what he did for the university outside of athletics, he was one of the best chancellors/presidents we ever had.

If the man was a true visionary why in the world would he give such little attention and funding to athletics which is the window thru which the university system is viewed? Hurley set us back decades.

Mean Green 93-98 · September 24, 2023

12 minutes ago, JT Hammons said:

If the man was a true visionary why in the world would he give such little attention and funding to athletics which is the window thru which the university system is viewed? Hurley set us back decades.

Who said "true visionary"? No argument here that the move to 1AA set us back, as did several dominoes leading up to that. I am only saying is that I don't think he was as ardently opposed to athletics as some make him out to be.

rcade · September 24, 2023

There have been a lot of bad decisions by UNT leaders affecting athletics. One of the best decisions they've ever made was making the official switch to Mean Green in 2000.

Big Al Hurley had a great record outside of sports. On sports he blew it. He was on the board that set us back decades by dropping to I-AA.

Edited September 24, 2023 by rcade

UNTLifer · September 24, 2023

3 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

Way to violent for a retired Air Force General? Wasn't the Viet Nam era B-52 bombing wing's motto "Death from Above"?

If this is true, the late Curtis Lemay would have been very embarrassed by him. Curtis Lemay was the Army Air Corp's version of General Patton......only a little more crazy.

Guess I was way too sarcastic.