Sugar Bowl

Brother Martin's versatile Emmanuel "Tookie" Spann, Jr., and Tulane's sterling basketball star Paul Thompson were named co-winners of the Outstanding Athlete Award for the Greater New Orleans area for 1983 by the Sugar Bowl Sports Awards Committee.

Spann also received the committee's award for the Outstanding Prep Athlete for the State of Louisiana.

The Brother Martin football-baseball star has signed a grant-in-aid with Tulane University where he is expected to perform as a defensive back. A quarterback-defensive back in high school, Spann guided his team to a 9-1 season in District 11-AAAA and was named the district's most valuable player.

In 10 games, he scored 10 touchdowns, rushed for 486 yards, and completed 94 passes for an additional 650 yards.

The versatile Spann also punted, place-kicked and returned punts and kickoffs for the Crusaders.

Spann also pitched and played shortstop for the Wendy's American Legion (Brother Martin) baseball team while leading the team to the Junior Baseball World Series in Fargo, N.D. He hit over .400 for the season and was the winning pitcher in the Wendy's team's game against Saucer Marine to clinch the Legion city title.

The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 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. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the 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 Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month.

-www.AllstateSugarBowl.org-