09/04/2026
JR Sam Fitzgerald - Panther Football WR/ QB and Panther Outfield/Pitcher on Baseball team.
https://lufkindailynews.com/sports/keeping-the-faith-lufkin-wr-has-competitive-mindset-mixed-with-big-picture-philosophy/article_7062c1e6-c1f3-5530-9551-5f45763c2778.html
For a two-sport star athlete, Lufkin junior Sam Fitzgerald has had a lot of success on the playing fields for the Panthers.
Fitzgerald, an outfielder/pitcher for the Panthers’ baseball team who was named co-sophomore of the year in District 10-5A as well as making the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association second team all-state, is a starting receiver and plays quarterback as well.
Fitzgerald, who says he’s always been competitive, also knows that success is also defined by what happens off the field.
Fitzgerald, whose father Jacob is a former Panther and currently the pastor at Denman Avenue Baptist Church, talked about how he’s the person he looks up to.
“My dad is really that person for me, he played athletics at Lufkin so he knows what it’s like and I’ve always been ultra competitive and I got that from him so he knows how my brain works,” Fitzgerald said. “He knows how it’s wired, and so he can kind of help me and the one thing he tells me is to focus on the process.”
Fitzgerald talked about his competitiveness and how listening to his dad’s advice helps.
“I’ll get so caught up in the results and like I want to win, I want to win, but if I can just focus on the process and do what I can do to put my team in the best position to win, that’s when true success is found,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald talked about how the person he is and wants to become doesn’t just come from athletics.
“Another thing that he draws into me is that your identity isn’t found in athletics. I go to church, I’m a very religious person. I’m playing for a different purpose, I’m not playing for me,” Fitzgerald said. “He makes sure and shows me that you’re not defined by your athletic prowess, what you do on the field, but how you’re a teammate, how you hold yourself, how you hold your teammates accountable, how you show the community who you are is not just because of athletics. It’s also because of the young man you’re becoming.”
For a two-sport star athlete, Lufkin junior Sam Fitzgerald has had a lot of success on the playing fields for the Panthers.
