Earlier this week, OnMilwaukee unveiled new Milwaukee emojis – available for download on all phones. OnMilwaukee’s Creative Director, Jason McDowell, first introduced the LocaMojis last year and now 123 are available including Bob Uecker, the Hoan Bridge, a Brandy Old Fashioned, Dick Bacon, the rapper Juiceboxxx, Byron Kilbourn with a torch and The Milverine. 

The Milverine, whose real name is John Hamann, is a local cage fighter who frequently walks from the Bay View area to Downtown. During mild and warm months, he power-walks bare chested and, recently, he started occasionally walking with a dog.

This week, McDowell was biking from Bay View to Whitefish Bay when he spotted the shirtless strutter on Kinnickinnic Avenue.

"I was out shooting photos for OnMilwaukee when I saw him from behind. I’d seen the image one thousand times before, but this time it was real," says McDowell.

When McDowell saw Hamann, he pulled over and asked if he had seen the Milverine emoji.  Hamann asked, "What’s an emoji?"  

"I explained to him that I was doing a bunch of Milwaukee icons and he was one of them. He laughed and thought it was pretty neat," says McDowell.

McDowell says he was "absurdly star struck by this minor celebrity" and asked to get a photo with him. Hamann happily agreed and said he gets stopped twice a day for photos.

"After the photo he gave me a good hand shake and I went on my way," says McDowell. "He seems to just be OK with being 'The Milverine' and doesn’t need anything more. He is heroically courteous for someone who never asked for this and probably doesn’t care much about it."

Get your Milwaukee LocaMojis here!