Breckenridge Texan

Breckenridge High School will host Gary Reasons, former linebacker for the New York Giants and a two-time Super Bowl champion, and his Texas Football Dream program next week.

The program will offer a student leadership presentation to Breckenridge junior high and high school students on Wednesday morning, Sept. 16, in the high school’s big gym. That will be followed by a community gathering and catered luncheon for BHS alumni and other community members.

Reasons started the Texas Football Dream earlier this year, and Breckenridge is one of the first few stops on the statewide tour. So far, he’s presented the program in Crowley and Longview and will be in Hutto later this month.

“He selected Breckenridge as one of the first West Texas schools to be part of it, just because of the tradition of the ’50s and Boomtown football and, you know, state championships and so forth,” said Casey Pearce, athletic director for Breckenridge Independent School District. “His presentation centers around how community and school build character and camaraderie and hard work and teamwork within a community. And so his whole presentation is going to be to try to press kids to think about how fortunate they are to have a community with traditions, and to learn about those traditions and to know about who is still living that kind of established those traditions, and then all the alumni that have followed suit trying to keep those things alive.”

The presentation for the students is scheduled for 9:55 to 10:45 a.m. Pearce said it will be an interactive presentation geared toward the students but that interested community members are welcomed to attend.

The community/alumni legacy gathering and luncheon will begin at noon in the auxiliary gym of the BISD Athletic Facility. Pearce said Buckaroos from each decade since the 1950s have been invited, including the surviving members of the 1950s state championship teams.

Anyone who would like to attend may purchase a lunch ticket for $20 at the door; however, seats will be limited.

Reasons grew up in Crowley, south of Fort Worth, and played for the Crowley High School Eagles. He then attended Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he was a three-time All-American and earned spots in the College Football Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

He played for the Giants for eight years from 1984 to 1991, winning Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV as part of the Giants’ defense. He wrapped up his NFL career in 1992 with the Cincinnati Bengals.

After that, Reasons worked for more than 30 years as a college football television analyst and sideline reporter for ABC, ESPN, Fox Sports and Victory+. Along the way, he also built a business career that includes more than 20 years of IT sales and business development leadership.

Today, Reasons is a keynote speaker, author and mentor to youth, leaders and teams nationwide. He launched the Texas Football Dream initiative this year, traveling across Texas to work with student-athletes, coaches, and city leaders to foster community engagement through teamwork.