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Morgan City High retires football star jerseys

Morgan City High School retired the jerseys of four football players during a ceremony at the school Saturday evening.
The jerseys of Urban Henry, No. 89; Charles Pool, No. 33; Edward Dangerfield, No. 2; and Herman Hartman Jr., No. 4, will be retired after this season and never worn again by another Tiger. Henry was honored posthumously and represented by his first cousin, Rod-ney Grow, and his wife Pat.
The jerseys will be hung in front of the Morgan City High School press box at Tiger Stadium.
Morgan City High School Athletic Director and head football coach Chris Stroud said the school is trying to return its program to the successful days of when these jersey retirees played.
“We’re trying to build that back and show some kids that we’ve got guys that made it to the next level, not just college level, but some that made it to the pro level,” he said.
Stroud said the members of the class are “just such great representatives of the community that we wanted to welcome them back and give then that honor.”
Henry, a 1954 graduate, was a defense defensive lineman who earned all-state honors in 1953. He played football at Georgia Tech and later was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams. Henry also played professionally stateside for the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers and in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions and Edmonton Eskimos. In 1959, he was named an all-star.
Following his football career, he was a diver.
Morgan City’s Tiger is named for Henry, too.
“Urban played a lot of football. That was where he started off, and he really enjoyed it,” said Grow, who noted that his cousin played in the first-ever Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers. “It’s a great honor. I wish he would be here, but unfortunately, he had passed on several years ago.”
Pool, a member of the Morgan City High School Class of 1990, was a star running back and linebacker for Morgan City. He earned first-team all-district, first-team All-Louisiana Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the Louisiana Football All-Star team.
Following high school, he attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana where he earned Big West All-Conference Defensive Team honors.
During his time at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, the squad won the Big West Con-ference title.
After college, Pool played in the Canadian Football League with the BC Lions and also played in the Arena Football League with multiple teams.
He now is a successful business owner in Dallas.
“It’s kind of surreal that you get your number hung up in the rafters where nobody can wear it again,” Pool said. “That’s a great honor. You put in the work. You’re thankful for people that recognize the work that you put in, and it’s just a good honor, a good blessing. I thank the Lord, my family. It’s good.”
Dangerfield, a 1997 Morgan City High School graduate, was a wide receiver in high school and earned all-district and all-state recognition.
Following high school, Dangerfield lettered at Louisiana State Univer sity as a member of the football team from 1998-2001.
Later, he was signed as a free agent with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
He currently is a pipefitter and welder in Houston.
“It’s a big thing. I’m just really starting to realize how big it is and the company that you keep when you get a jersey number retired. It’s really just starting to hit me as of today as my family gets to enjoy this moment with me, and I look back on my football career and I think about how much it meant to them” for him to play football at Morgan City, Dangerfield said Satur day.
Hartman, a 1998 Morgan City graduate, starred as a defensive back for Morgan City and earned all-district recognition in 1996 and 1997. He also was selected as Morgan City’s Most Valuable Defensive Player his senior year.
Following high school, he signed with Arkansas State University where he played for one season before transferring to Southern University to continue his career. At Southern, he was a defensive team captain and a member of the 2002 NCAA Leadership Committee.
Also in 2002, Hartman led Southern in tackles and earned Southwestern Athletic Conference All-Conference honors.
Following college, Hartman played defensive back for the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Currently, he is the head basketball coach and assistant football coach at Morgan City High.
“I’m very humbled and appreciate the gesture that the school did for everybody that got their jerseys retired,” Hartman said. “Hopefully, we can go down the line and get many more retired over the years, so it’s the start of something that we hope to carry on.”

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