Historic High View Park in North Arlington was the site of this year’s annual MSMJ Youth Foundation community event, hosted by former Yorktown High School football standout and current NFL player M.J. Stewart and his family.
The event included activities for children, music, food and drink and a celebration of the Halls Hill neighborhood.
Stewart, 29, is a member of the Houston Texans as a defensive back and special-teams standout. He will begin his eighth NFL season this fall, the fourth with the Texans.
Stewart, a 2014 Yorktown graduate, helped organize the community event with family members, including his father, Marvin. M.J. Stewart was on hand mingling among the many attending, including some of his former teammates and coaches at Yorktown, family members and friends.
Mike Geter, also a standout runningback at Yorktown, was an offensive assistant coach when Stewart played at Yorktown.
“He taught me a lot,” Stewart said of Geter.
Answered Geter: “He came here with a lot of promise. I didn’t have to teach him much.”
Stewart explained how traveling to the event from Houston was a challenge because of weather-related delays at airports. His flight arrived at Reagan National Airport around midnight, hours behind schedule. Then he had to rent a car and get to a hotel, well after 1 a.m.
“There were delays everywhere,” Stewart said.
Stewart played college football at the University of North Carolina. He was drafted by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft. Stewart also played for the Cleveland Browns before the Texans.
When Stewart played for Yorktown, he was a standout runningback, defensive back and kick returner. He helped Yorktown win a district championship in 2012, then finish second in the Northern Region Division 5 playoffs that fall, losing to Stone Bridge in the championship game.
One of the reasons Stewart chose to hold his foundation event at High View Park is because of the community’s longstanding football tradition. The park is the site of the annual Halls Hill Thanksgiving Day “turkey bowl” morning neighborhood football game that has been held since the 1950s.
The contest is a full-tackle event, with no pads or helmets worn by the players.
“I played in it once, but never again,” said Geter, who now coaches one of the teams. “You can get hurt.”
Marvin Stewart has refereed the game, but never let his son play in the contest because of the concern of injury.
“We just like to bring the community of Arlington together a little on that day so old friends can come back and have a chance to see each other,” Stewart previously told ARLnow.
Entering the 2025-26 season, Stewart has played in 90 NFL games. He has 212 total tackles, nine for losses, with one sack and three quarterback hits.
As a pass-defender, Stewart has two interceptions and 13 pass deflections. He also has recorded four fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles.
Stewart played his freshman high-school football season at Bishop O’Connell High School before moving to Yorktown.
