Stan Mullins’ statue of Herschel Walker could be moved

Published 2:33 pm Thursday, July 12, 2018

If you drive down Pulaski Street through downtown Athens you will pass the 40 Watt Club, Creature Comforts and First Christian Church. If you drive far enough you will see a 7-foot bronze statue in a man’s front yard.

The statue depicts Herschel Walker, a 1982 Heisman Trophy winner who led Georgia to its most recent national championship victory in 1980. But why is it in someone’s front yard?

The statue was created by UGA alumnus Stan Mullins and has been in his front yard since March. Before that, the statue was at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame for four months.

Prior to that, the statue was on a tour of Athens on a trailer where fans could see it displayed at prominent Athens businesses. However, Mullins’ goal is to have the statue displayed at Sanford Stadium.

“It’s up to us, the fans, to honor our heroes, not the other way around,” Mullins said. “He’s done his job, now it’s time for us to do ours.”

Walker’s statue is part of Mullins’ potential four statue plan called “Crowns of Glory.” The plan came together after Mullins created the statue that sits on the corner of Pinecrest Drive near Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.

The statue of Vince Dooley, called “The Character of a Champion” depicts former Georgia head coach Vince Dooley sitting on the shoulders of two players as he is being carried off the field after winning the national championship in 1980.

A few years after the first statue was unveiled, Bulldawg Illustrated sports photographer Rob Saye created a Facebook page that encouraged the building of a Walker statue, which sparked Mullins’ interest.

Saye, a 1981 graduate from Georgia, thought of the idea for a Walker statue when he saw Sports Illustrated’s photos of statues at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Florida.

Saye made the Facebook page to start the discussion about creating a statue, but he hoped to have full endorsement from the university.

“I just know what Herschel did for the university, and I just felt that we should honor him,” Saye said. “Hopefully one day it will get done.”

After taking suggestions from other people, Mullins decided to create statues of Georgia legends Charley Trippi and Frank Sinkwich to place with Walker’s statue. However, Trippi and Sinkwich’s clay statues fell apart after creation due to heat conditions.

Mullins held off on creating the statue of Walker until he had proper working conditions and funds for the materials. Previously, Mullins created “Ashes to Glory,” a bronze sculpture of a herd of buffalo, for Marshall University. He used his earnings from Marshall to self-fund the building of the Walker statue.

The roughly 2,000-pound statue of Walker features artistic detail that even the closest observers might not see. The ball that Walker is carrying has Walker written on it in the same font that Wilson Sporting Goods uses on its footballs. Walker’s pads are bulky to show how players dressed during the 1980 era of “Dooley’s Junkyard Dawgs.”

Mullins says that he hopes to one day recreate Trippi and Sinkwich’s statues. The plan for the fourth statue is to have an uncarved 12-ton Carrara marble block as an unfinished sculpture. Mullins’ idea is to use the uncarved block as a recruiting tool and incentive to show that Georgia is waiting on its next hero.

Should the statue of Walker ever be placed at Sanford Stadium, Mullins plans to put it on a red granite pedestal in the shape of the power G, similar to Dooley’s stature, which sits on a black granite pedestal.

According to Mullins, a red granite pedestal represents Heisman Trophy winners, while a black granite pedestal represents national champions. Therefore, Sinkwich would have a red pedestal for his 1942 Heisman Trophy, while Trippi would have black because he was part of Georgia’s 1942 national championship team. Trippi’s pedestal would also pay tribute to his military service.

In the meantime, Mullins wants to ensure Georgia is honoring its current heroes. He’s had phone interviews with Athletic Director Greg McGarity, but the university nor its athletic department has agreed to buy the sculpture.

“I don’t want to push anybody into the negative,” Mullins said. “They’ve got their job. Nobody asked me to make this. I know that, so I’ve got to accept that and move on.”

As one of only two three-time All-Americans and Heisman Trophy winners at Georgia, a lot of Georgia fans feel that Walker deserves a statue. Saye’s Facebook page supporting the project has nearly 3,000 members.

Mullins will continue to create other sculptures and artwork, but he hopes that the prominence of the Pulaski Heights neighborhood will help continue the conversation around Herschel and Georgia’s heroes.

“I get to put him there, you get to see him when you’re having great BBQ, and, ‘Holy cow what’s he doing over here?’” Mullins said. “It’s activating a certain mindset even by being passive.”

The hope for Mullins is people will ask questions, so he can tell the story of Walker over and over again, and maybe one day the statue of Walker will stand outside of Sanford Stadium.

“It’s just a question of when, so in the meantime I’ll cut the grass around him,” Mullins said.

Printed with permission from The Red & Black independent student media organization in Athens, Ga.; redandblack.com/sports.