Fort Pierce Westwood to retire Khalil Mack's jersey

Fort Pierce Westwood High School plans to retire the jersey of Oakland Raiders star defensive end Khalil Mack.

The ceremony is scheduled to take place before the Panthers spring game against Sebastian River at 7 p.m. Thursday at Lawnwood Stadium.

Mack, who graduated from Westwood in 2009, was the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and is a three-time Pro Bowl selection.

“He’s still young, but we obviously are proud of him being selected to three Pro Bowls and being Defensive Player of the Year, but we also feel like he’s an example for these kids,” Westwood athletic director Jill Willette said. “He represents the NFL well, but he represents Westwood and Fort Pierce well, too. And it’s always nice to have him come back and for the kids to see him.”

Injuries limited Mack to only one year of high school football, but he had 140 tackles and 9 sacks and was a first-team all-area selection as senior in 2008. Buffalo was the lone Division I program to offer Mack a scholarship.

He went on to set a NCAA record with 75 career tackles for loss, tied the NCAA record with 16 career forced fumbles and set a school record with 28.5 sacks.

The Raiders selected Mack with the fifth overall draft pick in 2014 and he finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.

Mack will be the third player to have his jersey (No. 32) retired by Westwood. He joins Craig Swoope (No. 20, 1982 graduate) and Ryan McNeil (No. 6, 1988 graduate), who had their jerseys retired in 2008.

“There’s obviously other people who have come through here, but he’s the most recent and the most relevant right now,” Willette said of Mack. “We get people (who) come in here all the time who go, ‘Didn’t Khalil Mack go here? Didn’t Khalil Mack go here?’”

This is the second time Westwood has attempted to retire Mack’s jersey. The school had a ceremony planned for the spring of 2016, but the game was cancelled because of inclement weather.

“It’s Florida, so you never know about the weather,” Willette said. “Weather permitting, we plan on presenting him with his jersey before the game.”