Highlands Middle School student Xavier Howard won the shot put at the first track and field meet held at the Bob Hayes Track and Field at Matthew Gilbert Middle School on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on April 1, 2026 at 2:29 pm
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Bob Hayes under the spotlight was the ultimate catch-22.
The track and field at Matthew Gilbert Middle School was renamed Tuesday afternoon in honor of the one Panther whom no one could catch — Robert “Bullet Bob” Hayes.
His classmates, teammates, family and community stewards gathered on the Eastside to celebrate an incomparable athlete whose achievement has elevated Jacksonville for more than 60 years.
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“To see the people that came out to help celebrate my dad, it means a lot,” Westine Lodge says. “That people continue to think, to honor my dad and for the legacy to continue on, it really, really means a lot.”
Hayes grew up in Campbell’s Addition on the Eastside.
He attended Matthew Gilbert Junior-Senior High School. Growing up Out East, there was not a track for him to practice on. So, Hayes sprinted in a lot at the Boys Parental Home on Jessie Street.
Today’s athletes won’t have to be as creative.
Ja’Kyra Baker learned about Hayes’ legacy while competing in track and field. Ja’Kyra is in eighth grade at Matthew Gilbert. She set her personal best in the shot put on Tuesday afternoon, tossing the 8-pound ball 23 feet, 3 inches.
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“Honestly, I didn’t know he went here and went to the Olympics (until I started in track),” Ja’Kyra says. “It’s cool that we have history on our field.”
If Baker continues in the sport, she might compete at the Bob Hayes Invitational. The track meet has brought some of Florida’s best sprinters to Jacksonville for 62 years. Current Duval County School Board member Reginald Blount competed in the sprints at the Bob Hayes while he attended Paxon High School.
Blount and Lodge ran track and field together.
Today, Lodge is a longtime local educator. She says her father’s triumphs, as well as his personal perseverance, are part of his legacy.
“It doesn’t matter where you start or where you come from. It’s how you progress and where you end up,” Lodge says. “Things happen in life. Life is lifeing. But, you have to be able to get up and have that determination that I am going to make it or I am going to change. It starts with your mindset.”
Bob Hayes’ achievements
There have been other Duval County Public Schools graduates who have won Olympic gold medals, who have set track and field world records, who have won the Super Bowl, who have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Hayes is the only person who has accomplished all of those things.
On the football field, Hayes won championships at every level. He was a part of the 1958 Matthew Gilbert football team that finished unbeaten and won the FIAA state championship. Hayes was a member of the 1961 Florida A&M football team that finished 10-0 and outscored opponents 504-33. He also helped the Dallas Cowboys win their first Super Bowl in the 1971 season.
Hayes wore No. 22 for both the Rattlers and Cowboys.
“Bob Hayes was a fun person on and off the track,” his college track and field teammate Al Austin recalls. “Bob Hayes put Jacksonville, put Florida A&M, the whole state of Florida and the nation on the world’s map. … As far as I’m concerned, Bob Hayes was the fastest human yesterday, today and forever.”
Hayes’ name is underneath the scoreboard at the venerable school on the Eastside. It’s accompanied by a tribute to Hayes’ former football coach, James Thompson.
The athletics complex at Gilbert was named after Thompson in 2017 to celebrate his contribution as coach and principal at the once-segregated school.
Once Duval County desegregated schools, it converted the facility into a middle school.
Tuesday’s ceremony did not last long. The track and field teams at Gilbert Middle, Highlands Middle and Oceanway Middle used it for a track meet.
Before she concluded her remarks, Lodge reminded the nearly 100 people in attendance to speak life into children. She is a longtime educator who knows anything is possible when children are edified.
Unbeknownst to Lodge, her father, inspired Princeton Watts, an eighth grade student at Matthew Gilbert. Princeton enjoys football. Observing a photo of Hayes in the gymnasium of the school they share, inspired Princeton to commit to track and field.
Princeton initially competed in the shot put to get his body prepared for football season. Hayes’ excellence convinced him that he can do both.
“We have a picture of him in the gym. I was intrigued by him,” Princeton says. “He won a Super Bowl and a gold medal. … (He’s) a legend to the Dallas Cowboys and the United States.”
