ODESSA, Texas — Football season is in the air, and for folks across Odessa, the sport holds a special memory dating back to almost 50 years ago.
On Friday, Odessans celebrated the 56th anniversary of MOJO Day in honor of the Permian Panthers football team.
This all started back in 2007 when former Odessa Mayor Larry Melton proclaimed Oct. 12 to be known as "MOJO Day", and what better way to celebrate it than hold a big pep rally to honor its name?
"Two students reached out to me over the summer," Texas State Representative Brooks Landgraf said. "They were very well prepared, had a great idea about commemorating Mojo on Friday the 13th on the 56th anniversary, and so they had a great idea. And I told them I wanted to help out wherever I could, and as a Permian High School graduate myself, it made a lot of sense. So I was glad to work with these very bright, young students, and we were able to get it done."
As Mojo means magical ability and the power to get things done, it really has held up to its name till the day, and that's all thanks to a couple of fans.
"So shrouded in a lot of mystery by most accounts, it was at a Permian game at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, Texas, where some fans said that the Panthers had some MOJO going, and it kind of caught on, spread like wildfire, and now it's the battle cry," Landgraf said. "But, you know, it's anybody who's been paying attention to high school football in Texas in the last five decades knows exactly what MOJO is. We wanted to make it official."