{"id":106763,"date":"2025-07-31T05:34:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/106763\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T05:34:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:34:13","slug":"capturing-beloved-faith-and-football-heroes-in-bronze-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/106763\/","title":{"rendered":"Capturing beloved faith and football heroes in bronze \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Utah artist Blair Buswell \u2014 a former BYU football player \u2014 has sculpted the bronze busts of more than 130 players on permanent display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.<\/li>\n<li>Buswell has also crafted the busts of three Latter-day Saint leaders \u2014 Presidents Harold B. Lee, Thomas S. Monson and Russell M. Nelson.<\/li>\n<li>The Pleasant Grove-based figurative sculptor combines his athletic background with his artistic talents to create his unique works.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">PLEASANT GROVE \u2014 When Blair Buswell was a BYU running back in the early 1980s, a team surgeon devised makeshift protective hand pads for him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The doc wasn\u2019t worried about Buswell fumbling the ball \u2014 he simply wanted to protect the hands of a promising young sculptor from being stomped on by 300-pound linemen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cHe would check me out before the game, shake his head and say \u2018You\u2019re stupid to be out there,\u2019\u201d recalled Buswell, laughing.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.42;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/A57QQFLJBBH6FOO4QAQGVYCNQ4.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"565\"\/>Blair Buswell, a former BYU football player turned professional sculptor, points out details of one of his Native American pieces in his studio in Pleasant Grove on Monday, July 28, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell\u2019s artistic mitts have proven to be his meal ticket \u2014 and have given him access to a roster of celebrated folks, including golf\u2019s Jack Nicklaus, actor Charlton Heston, scores of pro football greats and a few Latter-day Saint prophets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">For decades, the North Ogden native and returned missionary has been the lead sculptor for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.profootballhof.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pro Football Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">To date, Buswell has sculpted more than 130 busts of Hall of Fame inductees that are on permanent display at the famed Canton, Ohio, museum \u2014 about a third of the collection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">When Class of 2025 inductees Eric Allen and Jared Allen unveil their bronze busts later this week, they will be seeing Buswell\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">But Buswell\u2019s creations in bronze, capturing some of America\u2019s most legendary sports figures, stretch beyond the gridiron. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">His life-size-plus figure of \u201cThe Golden Bear\u201d raising his Masters-winning putt is aptly on display in Augusta \u2014 while statues of basketball\u2019s John Wooden and Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle are found outside UCLA\u2019s Pauley Pavilion and Oklahoma\u2019s RedHawks Field, respectively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">And countless Utah State football fans have snapped selfies with Buswell\u2019s larger-than-life statue of Aggie legend Merlin Olsen, located at Romney Stadium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He\u2019s also sculpted icons Oscar Robertson, Bear Bryant, Warren Miller, Doak Walker and others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/2011\/11\/26\/23226117\/i-know-that-guy-president-monsons-life-size-bust-on-display\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Meanwhile, his bronze busts of President Harold B. Lee, President Thomas S. Monson and President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <\/a>are prominently displayed in the \u201cHall of the Prophets\u201d in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Not bad for a dentist\u2019s kid from Weber County.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI still pinch myself,\u201d admits Buswell.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2RYBWLQDVNDHFOJAKJO6GLNODI.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Busts sculpted by Blair Buswell, a former BYU football player turned professional sculptor, in his studio in Pleasant Grove on Monday, July 28, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News An artist in cleats and shoulder pads<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell\u2019s athletic\/artistic journey, culminating with his ongoing connection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was one of those \u201cTalent plus Preparation plus Opportunity\u201d stories that belongs in a movie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">But first, rewind several years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Art and athletics both came naturally to Buswell while a child growing up in northern Utah. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI made my toys out of clay \u2014 cowboys and Indians and race cars,\u201d he told the Deseret News.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OJC23CTPJFFMBJ2EBWHXKLOGJ4.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Blair Buswell, a former BYU football player turned professional sculptor, talks about some of his pieces in his studio in Pleasant Grove on Monday, July 28, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">To keep young Blair quiet during church services, his mother, LauRene Buswell, would hand him a Sucrets lozenges tin filled with molding clay and flat toothpicks \u2014 \u201cand then I\u2019d make my toys right there in church.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell was also a gifted athlete. His two passions \u2014 arts and athletics \u2014 he said, \u201cwent hand-in-hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">At Weber High School, Buswell was that rare student who claimed All-State honors in football and track \u2014 and was also the school\u2019s Sterling Scholar in art.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He was recruited to play football by the local universities. \u201cBut they were looking at me for down the line, and I wanted to play right away.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">So he took his diverse talents to Ricks College on a combined athletic-art-academic scholarship. After enjoying football success for the Vikings, he enrolled for a short time at Utah State University \u2014 primarily to study at the school\u2019s renowned illustration and design program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Following a Latter-day Saint mission to Washington, D.C., Buswell decided to play for BYU on pass-happy Cougar squads that included Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Steve Young and Robbie Bosco.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cSo, if and when I ever got in, I blocked,\u201d he said, smiling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell jokes that he was a favorite of BYU head coach LaVell Edwards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cLaVell liked me because I was free \u2014 I was on an art scholarship,\u201d he said. \u201cI played three years of Division 1 football on an art scholarship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cDon\u2019t know many who have done that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">During his senior year, the Cougar running back even taught a BYU night class in sculpting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell\u2019s early sculptures were primarily Western-themed pieces. (He\u2019s since become nationally renowned in the Western art community.) \u201cBut I really wanted to do sports action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">His first bronze was the \u201cCompetitor Award\u201d trophy that he sculpted for the Cougar Club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The recipient of that first trophy? Former BYU linebacker \u2014 and current University of Utah head coach \u2014 Kyle Whittingham.<\/p>\n<p>Unexpected patrons: Coach Bill Walsh and 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">During his senior year in 1982, Buswell was approached by three-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Walsh at BYU\u2019s annual Cougar Club Banquet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Walsh was the banquet\u2019s guest speaker and had learned of Buswell\u2019s skill as a sculptor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAfter the banquet, Coach Walsh grabbed me and asked me if I would consider doing a sculpture of Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, as a gift to him for winning the Super Bowl,\u201d recalled Buswell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell immediately accepted the unexpected commission. He would ultimately sculpt busts of both DeBartolo and Walsh. \u201cI called them a \u2018World Championship Combination.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell flew to DeBartolo\u2019s hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, to present the 49ers owner with his copy of the sculpture. Thrilled with the bust, DeBartalo asked the young artist what he hoped to do with his talent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cMy dream is to work for the NFL,\u201d replied Buswell, \u201cespecially for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Debartolo smiled, picked up his phone, called the Pro Football Hall of Fame director Peter Elliot and said that there was a young man that he needed to meet named Blair Buswell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Canton was only an hour\u2019s drive from Youngstown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cSo I drove to the Hall of Fame and they hired me \u2014 that was 43 years ago,\u201d recalled Buswell, who still shakes his head while remembering that life-changing moment.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.35;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Y3O5LD6B5NBJ3C6TBM7H5E3LAM.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"591\"\/>Blair Buswell, a former BYU football player turned professional sculptor, talks about some of his pieces in his studio in Pleasant Grove on Monday, July 28, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Welcoming pro football\u2019s titans \u2014 to Pleasant Grove<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell\u2019s first Hall of Fame inductee sculpture was of veteran NFL coach Sid Gillman in 1983.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">That same year, he received a piece of advice from Hall of Fame inductee Merlin Olsen that still serves him well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cMerlin pulled me aside and told me, \u2018If it\u2019s possible, let the inductees see what you\u2019re doing before it\u2019s unveiled so you can make any changes, if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell agreed with Olsen. Each inductee\u2019s bust would be forever seen by legions of pro football fans \u2014 so it\u2019s essential that the athlete is satisfied with the end result.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">So each year, Buswell arranges time to consult with each of the inductees he\u2019s assigned to sculpt. He collects initial measurements during the week after the Super Bowl after each new class of inductees is introduced. Afterward, he returns to Utah to get started on an early version of each bust.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Then the inductees will typically make a trip to Buswell\u2019s studio, located in an industrial corner of Pleasant Grove. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Once inside Buswell\u2019s \u201coffice,\u201d the artist and the athlete work together to design the bust, bouncing around ideas on everything from facial expressions to hairstyles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Prior to the posing sessions, Buswell will collate a picture board with images of the inductee from different football seasons and ages to help best inform their decisions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ll joke with them and ask, \u2018Do you want to look like you want to bite someone\u2019s head off? Or look happy? Or somewhere in between?\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3K36QRVXFVDXXMXPQXFEAMHEDA.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Photos of some subjects of Blair Buswell, a former BYU football player turned professional sculptor, in his studio in Pleasant Grove on Monday, July 28, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI tell the players I don\u2019t want them to leave the studio until they are comfortable with the direction I\u2019m going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">As a former college football player, Buswell speaks fluent \u201cgridiron\u201d with his subjects while he\u2019s working with them. That builds trust. It helps put the athletes at ease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The artist remembers every posing session with the scores of players he has sculpted \u2014 but there are a few specific memories that still prompt a laugh and a smile:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>During a consultation with Hall of Fame inductee Terry Bradshaw, the former Steelers QB with the bayou-sized personality got a bit restless and invited Buswell to take a break from sculpting and catch a few passes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">\u201cI\u2019ve caught passes from some pretty good quarterbacks \u2014 Wilson, McMahon, Young, Bosco,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve never had a ball come at me like that. There was no rise or fall. Just bullets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">When Buswell returned to Bradshaw\u2019s bust, his hands were red and swollen.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hall of Fame inductee John Madden was famously afraid to fly,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">So the NFL coaching\/broadcast legend arrived at Buswell\u2019s Pleasant Grove studio in his customized Greyhound bus dubbed the \u201cMadden Cruiser.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">\u201cMadden was as down home and as easy and comfortable to be with as anybody I\u2019ve ever been with. Just chill and sincere. I fell in love with Madden as a person. He was really good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>While working with Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson in 1999, Buswell reminded the Southern Methodist University alum that the two were on opposing sidelines during the 1980 Holiday Bowl. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">Dickerson ribbed Buswell about the game, saying that the late game touchdown reception by Cougar receiver Matt Braga was a \u201clucky catch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">\u201cI told Eric that Braga\u2019s first seven or eight catches that season were all touchdowns. He only taught touchdowns. We called him \u2018Touchdown Braga.\u2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">\u201cSo we just had fun going back and forth.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Years before Steve Young was a Hall of Fame inductee, he was Buswell\u2019s teammate at BYU.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.55;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NLJGKQVYBNHEDK546JLLYVFTKY.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"516\"\/>Utah sculptor Blair Buswell shows Steve Young the bust of Young he created in his Pleasant Grove studio on  June 30, 2005. The bust of Steve Young was placed at the NFL Hall of Fame when Young was inducted in August. | Stuart Johnson, Deseret News <\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">The artist remembers bumping into his old quarterback shortly after Young had claimed his first NFL MVP award.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">\u201cI told him, \u2018Steve, if you keep this MVP stuff up, you and I are gonna spend some time together,\u2019\u201d recalled Buswell. \u201cSteve thought that was the biggest joke he had ever heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">Fast forward to 2005 when Young became the first left-handed quarterback to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">The two men would meet again shortly after news broke of Young\u2019s Hall of Fame selection.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">\u201cSteve gave me a big hug and said, \u201cYou told me I\u2019d be here, and I didn\u2019t believe you.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">\u201cThat was a cool thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">And, as predicted, Buswell sculpted the bust of his old Cougar QB.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-inline-start: 40px;\">Young later narrated an ESPN-produced documentary about Buswell\u2019s studio consultation with 2018 inductee Randy Moss.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Many of Buswell\u2019s Hall of Fame subjects are now lifelong friends. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A month or so ago, he received a random text from Steeler icon Troy Polamalu standing in front of Buswell\u2019s massive wagon train sculpture park installation in Omaha.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWhat\u2019s up, Bus?\u201d read Polamalu\u2019s text.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAnd then,\u201d Buswell added, laughing, \u201cI\u2019ll get a text from Warren Sapp while he\u2019s scuba diving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Testimonies shared in bronze<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell\u2019s artistic talent also affords him unique ways to share his faith.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">While a full-time missionary in Washington, D.C., a local Latter-day Saint woman who was a high school ceramics teacher gave him 25 pounds of sculpting clay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Elder Buswell spent his next Preparation Day sculpting a bust of an imagined church investigator he named \u201cMr. Brown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He began formulating ideas to blend his artistic talents with his missionary efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cSo I asked my mission president in an interview about doing a fireside and incorporating (his sculptures) with the missionary discussions about the Creation and the Apostasy and the Restoration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Enthused by the idea, President Lyle Ward arranged for a fireside in his home ward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cIt was a success,\u201d remembered Buswell. \u201cI did that fireside several times during my mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Decades later, Buswell secured his first commission to sculpt the bust of a Latter-day Saint leader.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">President Harold B. Lee had already died when Buswell began crafting his likeness for the \u201cHall of the Prophets.\u201d So the artist worked closely with President Lee\u2019s daughter and son-in-law to help him best represent, in bronze, the church\u2019s 11th president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He was able to collaborate directly with President Monson and President Nelson for their respective sculptures.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.63;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MEHYL4OSFFFX3MGVTNUPO2SXL4.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"492\"\/>Blair Buswell, a former BYU football player turned professional sculptor, talks about some of his pieces in his studio in Pleasant Grove on Monday, July 28, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Both church leaders came to Buswell\u2019s Pleasant Grove studio for posing sessions. \u201cAnd both men were great to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell admits feeling a unique level of pressure while creating the busts of faith leaders beloved by millions of Latter-day Saints worldwide. But he\u2019s learned to embrace the process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The personal memories of associating with the church presidents and their families will remain with him forever.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cPresident Monson\u2019s daughter (Ann M. Dibb) came up to me after we were finishing the final details on her father\u2019s bust and said to me, \u2018You captured my dad.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.33;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/36IYQ47AUJCWJBB3ZN7SIHXGAU.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"600\"\/>Latter-Day Saint artist Blair Buswell works on a sculpture of President Thomas S. Monson in his Utah studio in 2011. | Courtesy of Blair Buswell <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThat meant a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A sculptor\u2019s legend-filled studio<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Walking through Buswell\u2019s Pleasant Grove studio doubles as a visit to a one-of-a-kind museum celebrating sport, faith and the American West. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Most prominent are replicas of his l<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/2004\/10\/16\/23237592\/sculptor-of-clay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">arger-than-life sculptures of a wagon train monument that are part of a sprawling installation in Omaha, Nebraska, commemorating the American Western migration<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell was joined in the project by his friend and fellow sculptor, the late <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/faith\/2024\/10\/20\/edward-fraughton-sculpture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/faith\/2024\/10\/20\/edward-fraughton-sculpture\/\">Ed Fraughton<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">There are also heroic-sized clay reminders of his figurative work capturing his love of sports and his religious devotion. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.32;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/W77CX3QN25D75IQ2GGUL2YI7VE.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"604\"\/>Blair Buswell, a former BYU football player turned professional sculptor, talks about some of his pieces in his studio in Pleasant Grove on Monday, July 28, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Buswell\u2019s never really alone in his studio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">It\u2019s populated with copies of his Hall of Fame inductee busts \u2014 including one of Deion Sanders sporting a red bandana. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The Pro Football Hall of Fame does not permit hats or other headwear to be included in its official bronze busts, so Buswell playfully added one to his completed \u201cPrimetime\u201d sculpture \u2014 a sartorial tribute to the colorful defensive back-turned-college-coach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A family man, Buswell and his wife, Julie, are the parents of three adult children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThey all inherited the artistic gene,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to be Dad. They don\u2019t want to do sculpture. But they do drawing, design and photography.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">All of the NFL greats that Buswell has worked with have retired from the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">But sculptors enjoy far longer professional shelf lives than football players. The former Weber High\/BYU running back has not lost his artistic chops. That same enthusiasm he felt crafting his first Hall of Fame bust of Coach Gillman remains today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cPeople ask me when I\u2019m going to retire \u2014 and my joke is, \u2018Not until Andy Reid retires,\u2019\u201d said Buswell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\"> \u201cI need to do Andy before I retire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50;background-color:#F3F1F0;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2OJ6EMHVBJC5RNZZWG53MR2KMQ.JPG\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Blair Buswell, a former BYU football player turned professional sculptor, poses near several of his NFL Hall of Fame busts in his studio in Pleasant Grove on Monday, July 28, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Utah artist Blair Buswell \u2014 a former BYU football player \u2014 has sculpted the bronze busts of more&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":106764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[648,1032,1033,171,974,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-106763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-design","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-news-feed-national","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114946222919925560","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}