Tradition is what Osceola’s Football program is built on. The Kowboys have made 12 straight playoff appearances and won it all in 1998.  The community is their backbone and so is the legacy of one former player.

Spectrum Sports 360 reporter Despina Barton explains how for the last five years the team has been playing for more than just wins:

What’s in a number? At Osceola high school it stands for more than just the digits on the back of a jersey.

That’s because the young man that wore number 15 back in 2014 set a high standard.

“Great football player, great talent,” Head Coach Doug Nichols explained. “When you hear about these DB’s that are long he was one of those long DB’s – he was 6’2, 6’2 1/2 , rangy, very physical. He’s one of those guys you’d like to have on your team.”

Doug Nichols spent four years coaching Dominic Lee.  The corner back had a bright future. He signed to play football at Butler Community College in Kansas.

“Every kid always remembers the state game and when he got the pick in the game and every kid wants to attribute and be like him,” Osceola Head Athletic Trainer Megan McKenna explained.

Including his little brother, Lamont. He was 11 years-old watching from the stands as Osceola played Saint Thomas Aquinas in 2014 state championship game.

“It was amazing,” Lee said of the game. “I was sitting with my brothers and my cousins.”

172 days after that game and just hours after graduating high school, Dominic Lee died in car accident on June 2^nd, 2015.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was sitting at the house and one of my assistant coaches called and said ‘did you hear about Dominic?’ and I just laughed and said ‘what did he do now?’ and he said he was killed in a car wreck,” Nichols said of when he found out about the accident.

“You know when you hear those ones and hear people talk about seeing stuff happen before for your eyes –and don’t get me wrong Dominic Lee had his faults but the world lost a good one on that day,” Nichols added.

Four and a half years later, the wounds are still fresh.

It’s difficult for Lamont to talk about his brother. There are symbols of Dominic all around Osceola’s football facilities –to keep his spirit close by.

“I mean every kid wants to wear the number 15 after he passed,” McKenna explained. “Coach Nick made the choice that we would keep the number 15 and somebody who was close to him or like a brother would wear it.”

Carlos Becker wore it first, then Dwight Pinellas. Now for the first time, his own blood brother, Lamont is donning the number this fall to keep the legacy going.

“We stay out of it as coaches, and they work it out on their own each year and obviously with Lamont, his younger brother is only in 10^th grade so we know where it will be the next three years,” Nichols added.

“It means a lot, like, when I lost him – it just means a lot to me to wear his number to represent him,” Lamont Lee explained.

This fall is the first time the family is back where they spent many Friday nights cheering for Dominic.

“Before he passed, they came to every game and now he’s not here to be here helping me play—so it’s hard for them to come back,” Lee said.

But they will for Lamont—who is working to follow the footsteps of his older brother.

“I’ve got to put on a show every night, every Friday night – I can’t let anybody down,” Lee added.