HAMMOND, La. – Judge James Brady was a part of the Southeastern Louisiana track and field program nearly from the time he joined the Lions in 1964.

    Southeastern head coach Corey Mistretta and his squad wanted to make sure that Brady, who passed away on Dec. 9 after a short illness, remained a part of the program in 2018. The team is wearing the silhouette of a judge with a gavel enclosed within a white circle on their uniforms this season.

    "I just felt like we had to do something to recognize him," Mistretta said. "This is the guy who symbolizes what it means to be part of the track and field family, from the way he competed when he was here to the way he supported the program as a professional after he had been gone for so many years. Just being a friend to the program and kind of a father figure to all of us staff members as well as our team. I felt called to do something to recognize him and I came up with the idea of putting a white circle with the silhouette of a judge holding the gavel. I wanted to recognize him and make sure all of our kids held on to his memory this year as long as we could. Having them put their jersey on before every competition and understanding we are doing it for him and for his memory was important to me and I think it will be good for us."

    Brady's son, Sean, competed for Southeastern from 1991-93 and served as the Lions' head coach for 17 seasons before taking an assistant coaching job at Texas A&M this past summer. Sean Brady said he was appreciative of Mistretta and the program for honoring his father.

    "I'm humbled and very honored that Coach Mistretta and his staff would think to do that," Brady said. "My father was an avid Southeastern supporter even before I took the job and it kind of grew after I took it. He was a former track athlete, somebody who was invested in that program. It was a great honor for our family to see Southeastern do that, to recognize him in that way."

    Jim Brady, a native of Covington, Louisiana, was a four-time letterwinner for Southeastern Louisiana College from 1964-66, competing in the sprints, relays and jumps. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1966, he attended LSU Law School, graduating in 1969. He worked in private practice until 2000 when he was confirmed for a seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana after being nominated by President Bill Clinton. He became a senior judge in 2013.

    All while, Mistretta said Brady remained supportive of the Southeastern program. Mistretta, who was a student assistant on the track team when Sean competed, said he really started to learn about the judge when Sean hired him as an assistant coach four years ago.

    "The thing that stuck out the most for me was his passion still for Southeastern track and field after being an athlete here himself," Mistretta said. He was still hungry to be a part of it anyway he could. Every single time he had an opportunity to be here, he and Mrs. Karen (his wife) were here doing whatever they could to support. He was just as friendly to everybody on the team. No matter if it was a brand new freshman or a senior, it was almost like they were their own children, which was really, really cool. I think a lot of the kids felt that way. They were just so genuine. Here is one of the most recognizable federal judges that is held in this high, high esteem, but he humbled himself to the point to where you felt he was best buddies with you and had known you forever."

    Mistretta noted that support continued until his death. The daughter of a friend of Mistretta's and Sean Brady's, Doug Walker, a former Lion track student-athlete, died around Thanksgiving. When Mistretta returned from the holiday break in January, he noticed he had received a letter from Brady. In it was a check for a donation in memory of Walker's daughter.

    "He was just a really, really good guy and he will be sorely missed," Mistretta said. "I know Sean still struggles with it. I know we are going to miss him a lot. He touched a lot of people around here. That's why I felt so moved to have to do something. When I talked to Sean last week, he was very appreciation for us doing something and his mom was. I told him, I feel like I can't do enough."

    Sean Brady said he saw how much his dad loved the program, a love he developed while competing under head coach Al LeBlanc.

    "Over the years, he was able to be in a position to help me help some of the young men and women who came through our program," Brady said. "One of the reasons for that was his coach at Southeastern had such an impact on his life as a young man. And some of the best friends he had were men he met at Southeastern as a student-athlete."

    One of those men was Southeastern Athletics Hall of Famer Andy Thiel, who was a freshman with the Lions when James Brady was a senior.

    "He was my first college roommate and my teammate my freshman year," Thiel said. "Being a senior, he was a wonderful mentor me. When coach paired him with me, he did me a great favor by putting me with Jim Brady. He has been a dear friend all these years and I've always admired him. The one thing that stands out, especially as high as he went in his profession, was the fact he always remained the same guy that I knew as a teammate at Southeastern. He was never adversely affected by the role in politics that he played. He was always down to earth. He was a wonderful human being and anybody who came in contact with him was the better for the experience that they had with Jim Brady.

    "He loved Southeastern. Everything was green and gold. He was proud to be from Southeastern as he was proud to be from LSU when he went to law school. He couldn't have been a better teammate or better mentor for me when I was a young freshman on the track team."

    Thiel, who also coached Sean Brady at Southeastern, said he thought it wonderful Southeastern was honoring the judge.

    "It's just a great gesture and I'm glad Coach Mistretta was just wanting to do that," Thiel said. "I can't think of a more fitting way to honor him. He was very visible around the track program. He was always there for a lot of track meets so a lot of the kids on the team did know Jim Brady. I think it says a lot for them honoring a former coach and his son Sean. It was a great loss for so many people. He was a quality human being and a wonderful citizen. I just can't say enough about the impact he had on my life. He was just a wonderful friend."

    The Southeastern indoor track and field and field teams will be back in action Friday and Saturday at the Samford Open in Birmingham, Alabama.