Tyjae Spears, the star running back for the Tulane football team, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Male Amateur Athlete of the Year from the New Orleans area for 2022-23. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class.
Spears helped lead Tulane’s football team to its magical 2022 season that resulted in its first AAC championship, a thrilling 46-45 victory over USC in the Cotton Bowl, and the No. 9 final ranking in the AP Poll. The Green Wave set an FBS record with a 10-game win improvement in one season. Spears led the team and placed second in the conference with 1,581 rushing yards. His rushing yards were the second-most in a single season in school history as were his 19 rushing touchdowns. Spears’ 19 rushing touchdowns led the conference and ranked third nationally. His school-record average of 6.9 yards per carry ranked second in the conference and fifth in the nation. He topped 100 yards in rushing nine times including the final eight games of the campaign. He was honored as the AAC Offensive Player of the Year and was named the Cotton Bowl’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player after running for 205 yards and four TDs.
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee has recognized the top amateur athletes from the New Orleans area since 1978. Spears is the first Tulane football player to be honored since Matt Forté in 2007.
Additional finalists for New Orleans’ Outstanding Male Athlete were Seth Alexander (Xavier Track & Field), Harlem Berry (St. Martin’s Football/Basketball/Track), and D’Wanye’ Winfield (Lutcher Football). Alexander made history by becoming XULA's first NAIA national champion in track and field when he won the triple jump with a school-record distance of 15.39 meters/50 feet 6 inches – he was the only jumper at nationals to reach 50 feet. Berry, just a sophomore, ran for 2,277 yards and 37 touchdowns to lead St. Martin’s football to the best season in school history as it advanced to the LHSAA state semifinals for the first time ever. Winfield, who will play at the University of Louisiana, led his Bulldogs to the Division II Non-Select LHSAA State Championship as he rushed for 2,477 yards on 318 attempts and scored 38 touchdowns, while passing for 2,180 yards and 32 more touchdowns.
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee came together when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month and a variety of annual award winners. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 67th year in 2023.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 102 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 89-year history. The 90th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2024. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting nearly $2.4 billion into the local economy in the last decade.
