If you ever go to a football game when you attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it will be impossible for you to miss the eight foot six inch, 950 pound statue of Charlie “Choo-Choo” Justice sitting right near the student entrance. Sculpted by Johnpaul Harris in 2004, the bronze statue stands in memorial to the greatest football player to ever grace the UNC field.
Charlie “Choo-Choo” Justice was extremely accomplished on the football field as well as off it. On the field, he won the Maxwell award for the nation’s top offensive player once and was two time runner up for the Heisman Trophy. He carried UNC to their best season ever in 1948, when the team finished third in the nation and was ranked first for part of the season.
Outside of football, Justice was a devoted family man and was well known in the community for his public service. The statue itself depicts Justice in what the artist, Harris, called an “everyman” pose, rather than a heroic athlete’s action pose, in order to not overshadow the work he did off the field and emphasize his humanity.
The statue’s location is practically perfect. Right next to the stadium in which he played, you can see the painting of other famous players such as Dre Bly, Alge Crumpler, Lawrence Taylor, and Julius Peppers. Also, every student that goes in general admission will see his statue as they walk in and out.
The statue conveys an important part of UNC pride: its athletic program. The University of North Carolina fields extremely competitive to dominant teams in nearly every NCAA sport, and this winning tradition creates an overwhelming sense of pride in being a Tar Heel. The Charlie “Choo-Choo” Justice Statue is a perfect representation of this pride that unites UNC. Charlie Justice was one of the first and still the greatest player to ever put on a UNC uniform, and his statue memorializing him outside of Keenan Stadium is a fitting tribute.
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