BOND OF THE JERSEY NO. 77 WORN FOR BROTHER.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

LANCASTER - For two years now, the blue No. 77 jersey has hung in tribute at one end of the Lancaster High gym. Retired in honor of Majdy Haddad, the number is a memorial to the former Golden League lineman of the year, slain along with a co-worker in a Palmdale convenience store shooting on Sept. 13, 2000.

Outside on the Lancaster football field, however, Mazen Haddad offers a more personal tribute this season to the older brother he lost. With the No. 77 on his back, Mazen is returning Majdy's once-retired number to the field as the Eagles' starting middle linebacker.

For Mazen, the only way he could honor his brother - the one who got him into football and attended his scrimmage the week before his death - was to wear his number and play in his memory. And through the No. 77 they share, the two have been connected again, in a way only Mazen can describe.

``It's like he's with me the whole time,'' Mazen said. ``Every play I make, it feels like he's helping me with it. He's out there showing me which way to go, helping me out with everything.''

Never was Majdy's presence more evident than in Lancaster's season opener against Canyon on Sept. 12. With the game a day before the two-year anniversary of his brother's death, Mazen played with a fury, making six tackles and forcing a fumble.

To everyone associated with the Lancaster program, it was evident for whom the junior was playing.

``A lot of kids are out here for a lot of different reasons,'' Lancaster coach Troy Jackson said. ``But it's pretty clear that (Mazen's) got a higher calling. He's a man on a mission.''

Even so, reminders of Majdy's death follow Mazen almost everywhere, from the room full of his older brother's trophies at home to the brick dedicated in Majdy's honor at Lancaster's memorial garden. Mazen will inherit his brother's old truck (with the No. 77 on it) when he gets his driver's license in a couple of months.

But Mazen doesn't shy away from recounting the events of the afternoon Majdy was killed. His brother's death shocked the community - and remains unsolved.

A recent graduate of Lancaster, Majdy was working behind the counter at Vic's F&M Market, a store owned by his father for more than 20 years, on East Avenue R in Palmdale. Majdy's dream was to be a film director, according to Mazen, and he was filling in for his father that day at the store.

But around 7 p.m. a gunman entered the store and allegedly shot 18-year-old Majdy and 31-year-old clerk Phil Privett in the face and chest. A customer found their bodies behind the counter, but there were no witnesses to the shooting, and no one has been arrested.

The Haddads have offered a $10,000 reward, but police said they have exhausted their leads. Nasry Haddad, Mazen's father, inquired about the case four months ago and was told it remained open but with no new developments.

The family's greatest fear is that no one will be brought to justice.

``It's never going to be normal again,'' Mazen said. ``Every day, I think about it.''

The two brothers had bonded through football since Majdy started playing Pop Warner and Mazen helped film his games. They would sit in front of the television and go over the game for hours. His brother went on to earn lineman-of-the-year honors and nearly led Lancaster to the 1999 Golden League championship.

But it was after the first loss of Majdy's varsity career that Mazen learned his greatest football lesson.

``I remember he came home and he was crying,'' Mazen said. ``I couldn't believe it. That's when I realized I had to be emotional when I was out there playing.''

The idea to wear his brother's old number came from his mother, Lee Ann, who saved every program from every game Majdy played and wears his letterman jacket to Lancaster games. Mazen first wore No. 77 last year when he played on special teams for the varsity.

``It makes us so proud because it's like Majdy's right there beside him,'' Lee Ann Haddad said. ``He even looks like him when he's out there in it.''

After Majdy was killed, the family buried him with one of his old jerseys and framed another one in their living room. The family's goal is to have Mazen wear the number and pass it on to his youngest brother, Jordan, a sixth-grader who is playing youth football.

Jackson added that as long as he is Lancaster's coach, no one outside the Haddad family will ever wear the number.

Jackson also created the Majdy Haddad Award, given annually to Lancaster's top lineman. And Mazen's goal for the season is to win the award named after his brother. He made five tackles in Lancaster's 20-7 win over Sultana on Sept. 20.

But the perfect ending for the family could come in six years, if Lancaster retires the No. 77 again. This time it would be in honor of Majdy, Mazen and Jordan. And at one end of the gym the blue jersey would continue to hang as a reminder not only of Majdy, but also the brothers who carried on his legacy on the field.

``That's my wish right now,'' Mazen said. ``I don't think anyone else could ever wear No. 77.''

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Photo:

Lancaster High football player Mazen Haddad wears the retired No. 77 jersey of his older brother, Majdy, who was shot and killed two years ago.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer