Lamar will host its annual kickoff banquet starting at 6 p.m. Saturday with Port Arthur native and NFL great Joe Washington Jr. as the keynote speaker.

The banquet will be held at the Montagne Center. It will follow a VIP reception featuring Lamar football head coach Mike Schultz, athletic director Marco Born and Washington.

Washington, a 1972 Lincoln High graduate, won two national championships at Oklahoma as an All-American running back and went on to a nine-year career in the NFL, winning the Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins in the 1982 season.

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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