A great friend of Southern Methodist University and one of its most distinguished alumni, Lamar Hunt's No. 80 football jersey is being retired at halftime of Saturday's game between SMU and Tulane at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Hunt was a member of the Mustang football team from 1952-55 and wore No. 80 as a wide receiver his senior season.

Since graduating from SMU with a degree in geology, Hunt has had a distinguished career as a sports entrepreneur. He is the chairman of the board of Unity Hunt, Inc., a family company involved in sports, entertainment, energy, natural resources, technology, retail, real estate and financial investments. Hunt is perhaps best known for helping turn professional football into America's number one sporting pastime. Hunt is credited with accidentally naming the NFL's championship game the "Super Bowl." He was an orginal organizer of the American Football League (AFL), for which the Texas Sportswriters Association named him "Southwesterner of the Year."

In 1960, Hunt founded the Dallas Texans, who later became the Kansas City Chiefs, and was a principal negotiator in the AFL/NFL merger that paved the way for much of the game's modern growth. Today, Hunt is president of the National Football League's American Football Conference (AFC) and still owns the Chiefs. Although he is best known for his contributions to professional football, Hunt's sports interests span the seasons. Since 1967, he also has been involved in American soccer and most recently was one of the origianl founding investors in Major League Soccer, which began play in 10 major U.S. markets in 1996. The Hunt family operates two MLS teams - the Columbus Crew and the Kansas City Wizards. Hunt is also one of the founding partners of the Chicago Bulls and was once involved in the development of Wrold Championship Tennis pro circuit, which paved the way for the current men's professional tennis tour. For all his efforts, Hunt was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972. He has also been inducted to the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Sports Hall of Fame in both Missouri and Texas, and the Texas Business Hall of Fame. As a tribute to his contributions to professional football, the AFC Championship Trophy carries his name and in 1993, the NFL gave Hunt its Lifetime Achievement Award.

At SMU, Hunt has been a significant contributor to several projects, including Gerald J. Ford Stadium and the Paul B. Loyd Jr. All-Sports Center, which were dedicated at the beginning of September. Additionally, Hunt served as the Chairman of SMU TEAM 2000, a group of high-profile business and community ambassadors representing the SMU athletic department. The SMU TEAM 2000 campaign was designed to capitalize on the enthusiasm created by the inaugural season of SMU Football in the new Gerald J. Ford Stadium, and resulted in the sale of nearly 10,700 season tickets, the second highest figure in school history.