Fouts Field - Denton, TX
N 33° 12.426 W 097° 09.396
14S E 671811 N 3675761
A University of North Texas sign stands in front of the pedestrian bridge across I-35E, noting this as the site of where the university's legendary Fouts Field stood until 2010, and providing some history.
Waymark Code: WM12YH7
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/07/2020
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This is one of two identical signs for Fouts Field, with the other being across the parking lot at the Denton County Transportation Authority transfer station. A peek behind the sign across the Interstate gives a view of Fouts Field's replacement, Apogee Stadium.
The emblem of the University of North Texas is at the top of the sign, which features a vintage aerial photo of the stadium. The text reads:
Opened in 1952, Eagle Stadium was renamed Fouts Field after the death of coach and athletic director Theron J. Fouts. In his 34 years at North Texas, he had built a nationally acclaimed sports and recreation program and initiated the campaign to build the stadium. The first football game played there was a 55-0 victory over North Dakota on Sept. 27, 1952. Fouts Field became home to one of the South's first integrated college football teams in 1956 when African American students Abner Haynes and Leon King joined the freshman squad. In the 1960s, the Mean Green nickname was born at the stadium as fans cheered on the punishing defense. One of the linemen went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL, where he acquired a nickname of his own -- "Mean" Joe Greene. Also calling Fouts Field home were track and field teams featuring Olympians Dave Clark, pole vault, 1960; Bill Schmidt, javelin bronze medal, 1972; and Johnny Quinn (also a wide receiver), bobsled, 2014. Iconic football games at Fouts Field included a snowy 1976 contest with Florida State and a 2002 victory over New Mexico State that clinched the conference title and brought the goal posts down. Fouts Field also hosted graduations and fireworks shows and became a TV and film set for The Jesse Owens Story and Necessary Roughness. The last football game was played there in 2010 before the move to Apogee Stadium, and new track facilities in 2019 marked the old stadium's end. As pro football legend Haynes told the Denton Record-Chronicle: "You can look at that field as just dirt and grass, but it was more than that." A marker at the 50-yard line honors decades of UNT memories. (2019)