Monday, June 8, 2009

My on the field experience with Mean Joe Green


One Response to “Heart of a Champion: The 40 Toughest Players in NFL History”

  1. Trooper Keeton on April 1st, 2009 10:02 pm

    My freshman year at Texas Tech we played North Texas. Joe Green was a linebacker. It was 1965 and there was not a lot of black players outside of the traditional black Universities. So in a way it was to be expected that someone on our all white team would challenge Joe. Sure enough I recall Eddie Windom proclaiming that he was going to take him out on the next up and coming kick off. I remember wondering if he was really capable of preforming such a task. So those of us not on the kick off team watched like curious cats. Windom did have an uncanny ability to hit low. The problem was to our amazement that Joe, did too. Eddie charged ferociously down the field straight at Joe. Eddy was fast and came in about two feet off the ground just below the knees. I will never forget the collision. It looked like our West Texas boy was going to show him. But guess what, as I mentioned Joe was playing middle linebacker and he apparently knew how to wart off submariners. I, and I bet Eddy too never saw a big man go so low. Joe’s forearm and a little of his shoulder met Eddy’ s head at the point of attack. It looked like some one stopped the film on Eddy and let it run on Joe. Eddy slumped to the ground, as soon to be, Mean Joe Green went on his merry way. Eddy had a warn welcome when he returned to the sidelines looking a little groggy. Some one informed our boy that he really showed him, the guy in green. To this day I am not sure if Eddy thinks that he did take him out.

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The Blog said...

Got the film of this game. I wanted to show Eddie's encounter with Mean Joe. It does show him heading Joes's way as he goes out of camera. Well I suppose I will put it up. That will give me an excuse to feature your truly and my last play suited up in a Tech game uniform. I went out with a big one, a 15 yard pass interference penalty. But anyway last night while reviewing that 65 Freshman game I began to believe that this game may have had more significance than what meets the eye. That bunch of Texas Tech freshmen went on to beat Texas two of their three varsity years. They lost this freshman game to little O'North Texas. We the Picadors of Texas Tech were all white. The North Texas freshman not only had Joe Green but Richard Black and a small but significant number of black players. Maybe this game played a part in breaking down the white boy only door? One other thing I never was on the field with Joe again but I ended up playing against, with and for Richard Black 12 years later in the minor league AFA.