Easton Royal, a star football player and sprinter for Brother Martin High School, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Male Athlete from the New Orleans area for 2025-26. The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month and each year’s New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame class.
Royal, considered the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation in the Class of 2027, had a sensational junior season for the Crusader football team. He earned first-team all-state and all-metro honors after recording 59 catches for 1,219 receiving yards to go with 219 rushing yards. His 20 total touchdowns included 15 on receptions, three on rushes, one on a punt return and one on a TD pass on a trick play.
He opened the 2026 season by leading the Crusaders to four straight wins as he was named the Sugar Bowl Athlete of the Month for September. His biggest game came on Sept. 12 when he had nine receptions for 254 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-27 win over St. Paul's – his TD catches went for 11 yards, 73 yards, and 81 yards and he also threw for a six-yard touchdown. Brother Martin fell in the second round of the playoffs to close the 2025 season with a 7-5 record.
He capped off his 2025-26 year by winning the state championship in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.17 seconds to break the composite state record that had stood since 1980. The 5-11, 205-pounder also won the 200-meter dash and anchored the winning 4x100 relay team. Earlier in the month of May, Royal posted a 10.2 in the 100 meters and helped the Crusaders set a school record at 41.34 seconds in the 4x100 relay.
Royal was also selected as the Outstanding Male Athlete in the Sugar Bowl’s fan vote for the annual awards.
The other finalists for New Orleans’ Outstanding Male Athlete honor were Richard Anderson (Edna Karr Football), Tyler Milioto (St. Charles Catholic Soccer/Football), and Chris Olivier (Lamar Baseball). Anderson, the No. 1 rated defensive lineman in the country for this past year, led a dominant defense that paced the Cougars’ undefeated state championship team. Milioto kicked the game-winning field goal in the Division II state championship game and then followed that by scoring a staggering 74 goals in his final high school soccer season. Olivier, who prepped at Lakeshore High School and also played at Delgado, had an exceptional 2026 season as he earned Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year while leading Lamar to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.
The 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 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 athlete in the New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 70th year in 2026.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 114 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 92-year history. The 93rd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will serve as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, will be played on January 15, 2027. 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 over $2.6 billion into the local economy in the last decade.
-www.AllstateSugarBowl.org-
