November 1, 2022
Travis Swanson walked out to midfield with one of his daughters in his arms and took a deep breath. He exhaled as the 2009 Kingwood High School graduate looked at a white Mustangs’ football jersey with the No. 65 placed in a frame.
This was the moment that he never played for. It wasn’t ever the end goal for this night to come but yet here it was.
In front of family, friends and the Kingwood community, Swanson watched as his jersey was officially retired. Becoming the first in Mustangs’ football history to have this honor bestowed upon.
“I think it says a lot to be the first at something,” Swanson said moments after the ceremony. “But I think the thing that means the most to me is that my family, my daughters, their kids can go back at any point and see that. There’s always going to be a piece of dad that they can go back and touch and feel, even if I’m not here.”
Swanson’s daughters Kendyl and Sloane were on hand for the ceremony. Both wearing matching t-shirts with the Kingwood logo on the front, his No. 65 on the back with the word “Daddy” stitched above it.
Prior to the ceremony, Swanson took an intimate moment holding both his daughters and tried to explain what was about to happen.
“I think the footage we got and the photos, here soon we can go back and show them and teach them what this was,” Swanson said. “It meant so much to me to have them here.”
From the days when he was six-years-old just starting to play football, his parents' influence on the Kingwood Football League as a whole and to now being honored by that community made it an overall special evening for No. 65.
“This place will always have a special part in our hearts,” he said.
