Landers Athlete of the Week: Robert McKnight Nov. 16

Published: Nov. 17, 2016 at 9:29 PM CST|Updated: Nov. 18, 2016 at 7:11 PM CST
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Robert McKnight is this week's Athlete of the Week, and every time he scores a touchdown he shows respect to veterans.

The Parkway Panthers have had one of the best football programs in Northwest Louisiana for some time now.

So far this season, the Panthers have only lost one game and now they are heading into round two of the playoffs.

One of their Senior leaders is Running Back Robert McKnight, and he does it all for the Panthers.

"He gives us a lot of flexibility, he's even playing defense for us too because we know we can put him over there and have a guy that can immediately cover a guy and cover the middle of the field." Parkway Head Coach David Feaster.

He's already made his commitment to UTSA and will join his brother Boo McKnight in San Antonio but before he heads to college the Panthers have unfinished business.

"We lost last year but we are just trying to get a ring this year," said Robert McKnight.

It's a 'finish what you start' mentality that he picked up last year while visiting the Northwest Louisiana War Veterans Home in Bossier City.

"Well, he went to the Veterans home with another child named Chase Hill, because the Veterans had just visited one of the Parkway games, so they returned the visit," explains Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office Lt. Bill Davis, who also happens to be a veteran himself and a big supporter of Parkway.

That's when Robert sat down with a World War II veteran Olan Wise, who has lived on this earth for close to 100 years.

"I had a wonderful time and I enjoyed it and I guess I enjoyed that football game about as much as anything I've ever done,"  Wise says of his life.

But going to that football game back on October 15 of 2015 ranks up there among his best memories so far.

Wise hasn't made it to many football games this year, but Robert has been honoring him since the day they met.

"I was watching Robert come off the field and he salutes something and that's when I found out that Mr. Wise had asked him to salute the next time he scored a touchdown," explains Davis. "Robert has been saluting ever since and I said, 'I'm going to get as many of these salutes on film as I can.'"

"I know it means a lot to him and it means a lot to me," McKnight  says of the gesture.

It means a lot to Davis, too. 

"I think that's awesome, especially in this day and age, support for Mr. Wise a 98-year-old war veteran." 

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