John Hadl is honored with a framed Lawrence High School jersey at a ceremony Monday at Alvamar Country Club. The former NFL, KU and LHS football standout had his number retired by Lawrence High School. Larry Hatfield, a teammate of Hadl's in the LHS class of '58, is in the background at right.

Surrounded by auction items signed by Joe Montana, Bobby Douglass, Tom Brady and Lance Alworth, Lawrence football legend John Hadl earned an honor none of those players can claim: a retired Lawrence High jersey.

More than 100 friends, teammates, coaches and fans gathered Monday at Alvamar Country Club to honor Hadl as his No. 21 jersey was retired.

“Every time (Hadl) wore 21 I always felt in some way he was honoring Lawrence High and I think it’s about time we returned that honor,” said Max Rife, Hadl’s former basketball and assistant football coach, who spoke at the event.

Added Dirk Wedd, football coach at Lawrence High and the main organizer of the event: “I think it was long overdue. I think basically the town knew because no one had worn 21 in over 30 years, but it had never been publicly announced that Lawrence High was going to retire his jersey. Now John has something at home which hopefully means something to him.”

As he laughed and smiled, while coaches and teammates told anecdotes and sang his many praises, it was clear that the retirement of No. 21 meant quite a lot to Hadl.

“I’ll be honest, I’m very happy about it,” Hadl said. “I had no idea. Lawrence High has always been about the team and ‘we.’ It’s really an honor to be recognized like this. I really appreciate it. I’m honored all these people could come out. I think they’re supporting Lawrence and what Lawrence High means to them.”

The banquet capped off the first annual John Hadl Charity Golf Tournament, where the team of Ryan Catlin, Harley Catlin and John Tacha took first place with a score of 57.

“We are so honored to win this tournament,” Harley Catlin said. “It means even more because its for John. He’s earned every bit of it. There were no gimmes back when he played.”

Tacha also enjoyed the opportunity to recognize the humble Hadl.

“The first time I met him, you would have never known he did anything except play high school football,” he said. “He meets everyone on an equal playing field, which I think is pretty unique. He’s still the same person when I first saw him 35 years ago. All the things he’s accomplished, all the recognition, he’s never changed.”

For Wedd, it is Hadl’s humility that makes him a true inspiration for Lawrence High football.

“He’s never forgotten his roots,” he said. “He is the epitome of a Lawrence High kid. He’s spent his whole life being unselfish and that’s what we try to stress to our kids. We talk a lot about John Hadl to our kids because he knew that football was a team sport.”

All proceeds from the event will go to Lawrence High and Free State High scholarship funds, and Wedd has hopes to make the golf tournament an annual event.

“John wants to do this as a fundraiser,” he said. “Hopefully we can get some guest celebrities in here and we can do this every year.”