Tallahassee Artist Immortalizes Gator Heisman Trio
Friday, April 8, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – They have been resting quietly in a storage facility in Tallahassee since being returned from the foundry late last year, each waiting patiently for their time in the spotlight.
Their time is almost here.
Florida fans know each one well. Between the three of them, they have played a role in nearly all the greatest moments in Gator football history.
The famous homecoming win over Auburn in 1966, the decisive victory over rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl to win the 1996 national championship, and victories over Ohio State (2006) and Oklahoma (2008) for national titles in recent seasons.
But we've never seen former Gator quarterbacks Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow quite like this: larger-than-life figures cast in bronze and standing outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
We'll finally have the chance at halftime of Saturday's Orange and Blue Debut spring game. The three bronze portraits – created by Tallahassee artist Sandy Proctor – will be unveiled on the west side of the stadium along Gale Lemerand Drive.
They will be positioned on platforms approximately four feet high and each statue is a replicate of a defining trait each of Florida's three Heisman Trophy winners showed on the field during their time wearing a Gators uniform.
"We did the sculptures at 120 percent, just a hair over real-life size so that they are able to carry that space and be as powerful a statement as everyone intended," said Peggy Proctor Woodham, her father's assistant. "It wouldn't be nearly as effective if they looked too small for the space."
Sandy Proctor spared no attention to detail in extensive talks and meetings with all three men. The Proctors met with Danny Wuerffel at their studio, Spurrier during one of his visits to Gainesville, and with Tebow at his Jacksonville home.
They took video and photographs of all three. They also brought along plenty of measuring tape to ensure that each statue was built with accurate real-life measurements of the three former Gators during sessions that took up to four hours.
"We take detailed measurements of circumferences and lengths up and down the body, from the headband size, neck size, upper and lower thighs, upper and lower calves," Peggy said. "We don't have them sitting in a studio for Sandy to work with on a daily basis, so we have to get 360 degrees."
Once an agreement was reached by Sandy Proctor and the University Athletic Association – the UAA commissioned the three statues through private donations without money from the university – it took Proctor from three to six months to finish creating the pieces.
Once Proctor finished his work – first building the statues out of a dense Styrofoam and then sculpting them in clay – they were cut up into different sections and shipped off to a foundry in Colorado to be completed, a process that takes approximately another three to six months. Once the bronze was finally poured and the statues were welded together and completed, they were shipped back to the Proctors in Tallahassee for safe storage.
"They were done by the end of 2010," Peggy Proctor said.
With the Orange and Blue Debut here, the UAA hopes to add another experience for Florida fans to enjoy during their time on campus.
The statues each have very unique features specific to each player, from the way Danny Wuerffel wore his socks and knee braces, to the way Tim Tebow cradled the football and wore an extra pad under his left shoulder to protect from injury. The three statues weigh between 1,700 to 2,000 pounds combined.
Peggy Proctor hopes fans will notice how much specific detail was put into each, including taking a mold of each man's hands to ensure accuracy.
"The helmet from Steve Spurrier's era was a fraction of the size as the one from Tim Tebow's era," she said. "They are dramatically different.
"We got a lot of input from the Athletic Association. We were all leaning toward the most notable and most recognizable pose for each. And each of the men kind of had final say."
Wuerffel and Tebow plan to attend Saturday's unveiling and the first appearance in The Swamp for a Will Muschamp-coached Gators team.
Spurrier can't come because South Carolina's spring game is also on Saturday. His daughters are scheduled to attend and the 1966 Heisman winner and former UF coach has taped a video message that will be shown during halftime.
In working on Spurrier's statue, the Proctors acquired a game jersey he wore from the UF archives and created a replica detailed all the way down to the way the jersey was sewn along the seams.
Sandy Proctor has created many memorable bronzes during his career, including a monumental sculpture of two Navy SEALs killed in the line of duty entitled, "The Guardians," for the Veteran's Memorial Park in Cupertino, California and dedicated in November 2007 by Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter.
His most famous sports piece is of former FSU coach Bobby Bowden that stands outside of Doak Campbell Stadium, and a statue of former major leaguer Eddie Stanky outside the University of South Alabama baseball stadium.
His meticulous approach is the same regardless of the subject matter, though bronze portraits remain his most notable work.
"That's what he does best," Peggy said.
"The human form, ranging from the freedom of childhood to distinguished seniority, has always moved me," Sandy Proctor says on his personal website. "I strive to capture the emotion, personality, grace, and honor of all my subject matter, from people to birds to animals."
Once the statues are revealed, Proctor hopes his vision resonates with those walking past the three Florida Heisman winners for years to come, his daughter said.
Peggy Proctor added that the experience has been worth every little detail she had to acquire the past two years, from jersey sizes to shoe sizes and everything in between.
"If you meet any of the three guys, they are just outstanding exceptional people," she said. "They were really wonderful to work with and happy to do whatever it took to make it all work and make them look right.
"It's a great honor for Sandy and I think he did a great job, one definitely to be proud of. But of course, it's the University of Florida, with the reputation and the three Heisman winners, it was a tremendous honor to get to work on the pieces."
