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Oceanside resident Michael Walter spent Tuesday morning handing out fliers to drum up support for a Junior Seau memorial statue.

"There's no place to go to connect with him," said Walter.

Walter is looking to place a bronze statue at the location where Seagaze Drive runs into the beach -- just three blocks from Seau's home.

Walter was Seau's neighbor for four years. He and a small group of residents have been inspired to tackle the monumental task of planning and raising money for the project.

"I really don't think he knew what he meant to us as a community," Walter told 10News.

The group's Facebook page lets fans weigh in on whether a statue should show Seau as a football player or as a beachgoer.

Click here to view the group's Facebook page.

For football fans, swimwear instead of a football jersey may seem like an odd choice, but for many members of the community Seau called home, they said the Junior Seau who used to love to paddle board there is the one they'll remember.

"Everybody, of course, loves him as a football player, but we knew him as a local," said Walter.

Walter said he's already contacted the sculptor behind the "Cardiff Kook," a statue critics have said does not do surfers justice.

Does Walter have any doubts the artist would do a Seau statue justice?

"I know he can really do it correctly, I know he can do it justice and I know that he will make the city proud," said Walter.

According to Walter, the statue would be surrounded by bricks engraved with donor names.

After just a few weeks, the group has raised $2,800. Walter estimated they will need about $240,000.

Walter said response has been positive, even from Seau's sister.

Some, he said, have questioned whether a statue is appropriate given Seau's suicide.

"There's so much more positive about Junior than the last act," said Walter. "He could have lived anywhere, but he came home."

Walter said this is a way to say thank Seau.

The next major step is to present a concrete plan to the Oceanside Arts Commission.

Walter is looking to have the statue up by the anniversary of Seau's death next May.