August 30, 2018
DENHAM SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL IS BACK ON THE AIR!
The 2018 school year marks the 24th season that Jon Fine (Sports) Productions will have the privilege of producing and calling play-by-play for Denham Springs HS Football radio broadcasts. In 2018, the broadcast slate will include all 10 regular season Denham games, and every playoff game. Broadcasts will air on Family Radio-91.9 FM-Baton Rouge, starting at 6:00 pm Friday nights. All broadcasts can also be heard on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com (click Listen Live on the Denham Springs Football PBP page). The first broadcast is Friday, August 31, as the Jackets are on the road against Hammond High School.
Denham Springs HS grad Josh Ward will be the play-by-play announcer of the Jackets. He will be joined by Andy Duckworth as the color commentator. Jon Fine will handle half-time interviews.
“Sport N Center Jackets Warm-Up” will include an interview with Jackets Athletic Director/ Football Coach Bill Conides. Randy Smith’s popular retrospective, “Yellow Jackets Memories”, will air on selective pre-game shows this year. Smith’s feature will be interspersed with interviews with Sponsors of The Week. A North Oaks Health Minute will give listeners tips to improve their health.—Hopefully, Fine will be paying attention and taking notes. Ward and Fine will also offer a preview of that night’s game and other pertinent information.
The “Deep South Auto Specialist Half-Time Report’ will include an interview with a prominent Denham Springs community and/or sports figure, conducted by Jon Fine. In addition, Ward and Duckworth will provide a recap of the first half and a look ahead at the second half of action.
During the ”Ralph Sellers Post-Game Show”, there will be an extensive game recap, final stats and a look ahead.
When the Jackets score, you’ll get the particulars on the “Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill Jackets Scoring Drive”.
Sport-N-Center owner Stacy Phipps (Baseball) and Big Mike O’Neal (Football) were all athletes at Denham Springs HS. Ward was an assistant basketball coach with the Jackets.
Deep South Auto Specialist owner Michael Betts is a former LSU Baseball player and a prominent Denham Springs attorney.
Fine expressed that he is especially appreciative of the loyal commercial and name mention sponsors the broadcasts have had on Jon Fine Sports Productions’ Denham Springs HS play-by-play broadcasts throughout the years. Many have been with the broadcasts on a year-in, year-out basis. Fine expressed hope that listeners will have the opportunity to patronize these businesses and let them know they heard about them on DSHS Football radio broadcasts.
Josh Ward not only graduated from Denham Springs HS, but served as an assistant basketball coach under Coach Paul Smith. He has called Redemptorist HS and Central HS Football games for Jon Fine Productions in years’ past. He is presently the Traffic Manager at Guaranty Broadcasting. Ward is a native of Denham Springs and is single.
Andy Duckworth returns to the Denham Springs broadcasts in the same capacity he served in 2015—as color commentator. Andy grew up in Mississippi, played high school football, basketball and baseball and was a 4 year baseball letterman at Belhaven. He is a former radio station manager and sports-talk host in Mississippi. In this capacity, he hosted a sports talk show and did play-by-play for Mississippi College Athletics and Madison Central HS He presently works as a financial advisor.
Jon Fine co-hosted and produced daily 2 hour drive-time radio sports-talk programs in the Greater Baton Rouge area for close to 20 years. His programs (first SportsTalk, which changed its name to SportsGumbo), aired, at times, in New Orleans, Lake Charles, Monroe and Alexandria, in addition to the Baton Rouge market. His company, Jon Fine Productions, has produced numerous Denham Springs HS and area HS sports programming on television, radio and internet. In addition to his Denham Springs broadcasting chores, Fine has an EBay internet store, ArrestedDevelopmentMedia Guides, and is a marketing representative for a Lake Charles Sports-talk station and a Central radio show. Fine is a native of Valley Stream, New York and a graduate of Penn. He is single and does not believe he has any children.
For more information on Denham Springs HS Sports programming and Jon Fine Productions, please visit JonFineProductions.com.
BRUSLY BACK IN BUSINESS
Lionel Franklin/KBRS will be producing Brusly HS Football radio broadcasts in 2018 on KBRS, 106.9 FM.…
Lionel Franklin will be calling play-by-play, with Jason Manola on color commentary for Coach Hoff Schooler’s team. Brusly plays at Port Allen Friday night.
SULPHUR FOOTBALL IS ON THE AIR
Bruce Merchant on play by play, with Patrick Frey on color commentary on SportsRadio, 1310AM—KEZM—Lake Charles and on the internet at KEZMonline.com
Sulphur opens up on Friday night vs Carencro
PIGSKIN PREVIEW
You can also catch Pigskin Preview, Monday—Friday, 10am—Noon on KEZM and online at KEZMonline.com. The daily local show in Lake Charles is co-hosted by Patrick Frey and Scott Holtzman.
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ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, our EBay store, sells media guides. programs and baseball cards. Please visit JonFineProductions.com and click on icon to get to the store. Check out a full array of New Orleans Saints media guides and LSU media guides and programs and publications from much of the entire sports world. Over 4,700 publications listed.
YOUR WORLD CHAMPION HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL BROADCASTS: Tune in on SportsRadio-1310-KEZM-Lake Charles.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, 8/31, 6pm… Denham Springs HS Football at Hammond HS… Family Radio, 91.9 FM and on the net at JonFineProductions.com…
Josh Ward, Andy Duckworth, Jon Fine
FRIDAY, 8/31, 6:30PM… Brusly HS at Port Allen HS… KBRS,106.9 FM…
Jon Fine Productions.com
Lionel Franklin and Jason Manola
SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-LAKE CHARLES (AND KEZMONLINE. COM) BROADCASTS
Friday, 8/31, 6:45pm… Sulphur HS vs Carencro HS, Bruce Merchant, Patrick Frey
Monday—Friday, 10am—Noon… Pigskin Preview… Patrick Frey and Scott Holtzman
HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL (RADIO ONLY
NOT ONLINE)
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
No more stalling. College football is here and it is time to preview and predict LSU football in 2018. This year I will look at various aspects of the team from what we know, what we can logically expect, and what I think will happen.
But before I do, I have to take a moment and shake my head at all the criticism regarding the LSU quarterback position before LSU has played a down. In February, the coaching staff was blasted for not signing a quarterback. In April, everyone blasted the quarterback play in the Spring Game. Different experts rated the LSU quarterback position as the worst in the SEC.
Then, LSU signs Joe Burrow and people look for the negative, which I don’t understand because I thought LSU had the worst quarterbacks in the SEC. Fast forward to the present, and Burrow has been named the starter. LSU has not played a down. Almost nobody has seen any of LSU’s quarterbacks take snaps in 7 on 7 or 11 on 11. And yet, the process of how and if the process was done correctly has been trashed. It amazes me how the criticism can be so fierce without the critics having seen anything that matters. I am about to make a bunch of predictions, but how can I be critical before LSU plays a down? Doubtful? Sure. Critical of something that hasn’t happened? Please.
A short while ago, LSU had two quarterbacks transfer. Friends of those two are still on the team. For anyone who thinks LSU should have named Burrow the starter months ago, how do you expect a coach to keep the respect of the team if you do it any other way? The coach is going to ask Kary Vincent, Kelvin Joseph, and Kristian Fulton to fight for a starting spot, but give Burrow the starting job before putting on pads with the team? Talk about a recipe to lose the confidence of a team.
The critics don’t have to look at parents or go into recruits homes and tell those families that the player will get a fair shot. LSU fans worry about negative recruiting, but don’t realize naming Burrow without giving Brennan and others a chance to improve over the summer would have been easy picking for opposing coaches in recruiting.
Of course, if Burrow had been named the starter before camp, received the majority of first string snaps in camp, and got hurt against Miami, the same critics would be all over the coaches for not having Brennan prepared as the backup. I am sure the coaches would have preferred having a starter in place at the beginning of camp, and the method used by Ensminger and Orgeron may not have been perfect. But every other option I have heard proposed does not recognize the culture of building a team.
I wonder how all those people would react if an unproven commodity came to their business and took their job without any competition. That is the key. It is not like Burrow is transferring after winning the Heisman. He had to prove himself, and players respect that.
When will I understand that the people who spend the least amount of time with a team, know the most about how the team should operate? Oh well. On to the preview.
What do we know about the defensive front seven? Devin White is a great player. We saw it all last year. The defensive line has better depth than the last couple of years. Rashard Lawrence is an excellent player who should be drafted in the first three rounds. Breiden Fehoko was a good player at Texas Tech on a bad defense. Surrounded by good players, he will be good at LSU.
What can we logically expect from the defensive front seven? K’Lavon Chaisson should burst onto the seen and be an All-SEC type player. Michael Divinity has shown promise at times, and now is his time to show out. There is depth at defensive end. Jacob Phillips has the physical tools and is poised to have a great year next to Devin White.
I predict… the front seven will be great this year (not a bold prediction). The depth at inside linebacker is a little concerning, but Divinity has played inside before and there is depth at outside linebacker should Divinity need to be moved around.
What do we know about the defensive backs? Greedy Williams is a great player. Grant Delpit was very good last year as a true freshman with all the talent to be great. John Battle returns with experience and leadership.
What can we logically expect from the defensive backs? The talent level is very high and LSU is not counting on true freshman like last year. Kary Vincent is very fast and gained some experience last year. Kristian Fulton’s eligibility no longer requires true freshman Kevin Joseph to play. Joseph could play, but not out of desperation. Terrence Alexander brings experience from Stanford. Jacoby Stevens, Eric Monroe, and others bring ability and experience at safety.
I predict… the secondary will be what we have come to expect at LSU. LSU is deep, very talented, and a good pass rush always helps. The defense should be the best LSU has had in a few years. LSU lost some good players, but look at the draft, and you see LSU didn’t lose many great players. Watch the draft this year and you will see LSU has some great players on defense.
What do we know about the skill players on offense? We know Jonathan Giles was very good at Texas Tech and is wearing #7 for LSU. That’s enough for me to know he will be good for LSU. We know Edwards-Helaire has looked good every time he has played in a game including the Spring Game when he made Devin White miss in the hole. And remember, we know Devin White is a great player. We know Foster Moreau is a solid college tight end who is wearing #18 for a reason.
What can we logically expects from the skill players? The combination of returning players Justin Jefferson, Dee Anderson, and Stephen Sullivan along with freshman JaMarr Chase and Terrace Marshall give LSU tons of options at receiver. All of them have tremendous size and athleticism. At tight end and fullback, LSU has players like Tory Carter and Thaddeus Moss that opponents won’t game plan for, but should fill their roles competently. At running back, Nick Brossette has experience and freshman Chris Curry has the tools to provide depth at running back. Finally, Joe Burrow has everything but experience. He does have years of practicing and preparing at Ohio State which can’t hurt.
I predict… Joe Burrow will start the year well and improve as the year goes along. By the end the end of the year he will have as productive a year as any quarterback at LSU in the last ten years outside of Mettenberger’s senior year (keep in mind that isn’t saying a lot). I believe the same is true for the receivers. The running backs won’t be All-SEC, but they will be effective in the offense. I hope Myles Brennan gets time in games to develop.
What do we know about the offensive line? The group is considerably deeper than last year at this time. Garrett Brumfield and Saahdiq Charles will be very good on the left side.
What can we logically expect from the offensive line? Cushenberry has been around long enough to be effective at center. Orgeron is considerably more transparent than Miles was so there is no reason to think Orgeron is blowing smoke about Damien Lewis possibly being the best lineman. There is reason to be concerned about right tackle.
I predict… the offensive line will struggle early, but get better as the season progresses. The biggest reason I think it will struggle is there is so much that is new. New offensive line coach, new offense, and three new players on the right side and center are reasons for caution. They need game reps to develop chemistry. The best news though is the line shouldn’t have to be as utterly dominate as in years past because of the system. I believe Coach Ensminger understands how to call plays to make life a little easier on the offensive line. For example, play action, screens, and other concepts can help a young offensive line.
What do we know about the special teams? Not much.
What can we logically expect from the special teams? Cole Tracy made kicks in Division II, so he should make kicks in Division I since place kicking results are pretty transferable from one level to the next. The punters were average at best last year, so they should be again. The kick returners are new and will probably not be as electric as the White, Peterson, Mathieu days.
I predict....the same thing I predicted last year, but I should be right this time. Young backups like Todd Harris, Jontre Kirklin, Patrick Queen, Jacoby Stevens, Kelvin Joseph and others will give LSU very good cover teams. I doubt the return teams will be much better than average. I expect Tracy to make field goals consistently from 45 yards and closer.
What do we know about this coming football season? The schedule is very difficult. Miami, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, and Mississippi State are top 20 teams. Florida and Texas A&M have talent, new coaches, and are on the road.
What can we logically expect from LSU this year? LSU is predicted to win 7 games this year with Dave Aranda on staff. Can you imagine if he had left? He is being paid over 2 million a year. He had top 10 defenses with less talent than what he has this year. It is year three of the system. LSU fans should expect a dominant defense that keeps LSU in every game as long as the offense doesn’t turn the ball over.
This shouldn’t be a good defense, but it should be a great defense that forces turnovers and sets up the offense. LSU fans should expect all of the following players to look like NFL prospects: White, Williams, Delpit, Lawrence, Chaisson, Brumfield, Lewis, and Giles. LSU is being predicted to do poorly, because many of those names haven’t broken on the scene yet. I expect they will and a few others.
I predict… LSU’s defense will be good enough to win more games than everyone expects and the offense will be as good as the offensive line allows. I think Georgia is a top 15 team that got hot late last year thanks to some very talented players that are in the NFL now. I don’t think Miami is as good as they were last year. As a result, I think the schedule is difficult, but not as tough as it appears. 8-4 feels like the smart pick, but when have LSU fans been accused of being smart. I say LSU goes 9-3. Geaux Tigers!
HEY REF
I’ve always been one of those football officials that feel in the high school version of sports we’re all in this together. By that I mean, officials, coaches, players and parents. For years I’ve trumpeted to my former association we need to include coaches and invite them to our regular Monday meetings BEFORE the playoffs begin.
Every time the subject came up concerning the idea of hosting some coaches at a regular meeting it as quickly shot down. This year I’m working in another association and two weeks ago it was made known to us that the coaches have been invited and we should expect some coaches at this last meeting. I kinda silently gave myself a high-five and looked forward to meeting the coaches that this new association works for on any given Friday night. I felt like a young kid waiting for Christmas because the week seemed to drag along for months.
As the starting time for our meeting got close and closer I noticed an absence of coaches entering the meeting hall. Then as our meeting got started it was evident we weren’t going to have very many coaches attending. In fact I believe the total number was just five. I couldn’t understand the lack of coaches. If ever there was a time for coaches to introduce themselves to the very guys that’ll control what happens on Friday nights this was that time.
So with that said I’m ending my time at the keyboard this week. I feel there’s nothing else happening in the world of high school sports in Louisiana. I just don’t understand how coaches can snub their officials. Actions speak loader than words, we all know that. So please tell me what was the message that the coaches delivered to the officials just three days ago?
I can’t speak for any other officials but the lack of caring showed by football coaches told me they don’t want to be bothered. I won’t take it personal. I’ll just catch up on my rules and continue to get ready for another season.
Till next week…
Press Release
School officials and title sponsor Sport-N-Center are pleased to announce the Denham Springs High School Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2018 will be enshrined on September 6 at Forrest Grove Plantation in Denham Springs. Tickets for the popular banquet are on sale at the school office on August 6.
Headlining the event as keynote speaker will be LSU head basketball coach Will Wade, an entertaining and colorful spokesman entering his second season at the helm of the Tigers. Given the smaller size of this year’s class, planners seized this occasion to introduce a high profile speaker into the format for the first time.
Two All State athletes and one selectee in the joint category of Athlete/Supporter, plus one member from the Class of 2017, will be inducted this year. All four enjoyed their time as celebrated Yellow Jackets in the 1960s.
Maurice Cockerham Durbin and Jimmy Tullos were outstanding All State athletes during their glory days at DSHS. Durbin was a tenacious competitor and defensive star in an era when girls’ basketball teams played on a divided court, with three offensive forwards at one end and three defensive guards at the other. She complemented her high scoring teammate Celeste Gully, a fellow All Stater, making the Lady Jackets regular playoff contenders.
Tullos was a versatile three-sport athlete who occupies a prominent place in local football lore with 16 career interceptions from his defensive safety position. His senior campaign was shortened by injury, limiting him to 17 games in two seasons, but he still produced a remarkable average of nearly one interception per game.
Selected in the dual role of Athlete/Supporter, Jim Spring was a hard-hitting center and linebacker in football who was a two-time All District and All Parish pick for the Yellow Jackets. He was also an All Regional selection at a time when this all star category existed between All District and All State. Spring was the first in school history to earn a four-year football scholarship to an SEC university.
Sharing the spotlight with this year’s class will be Tom Kelly, a carry-over member from the Class of 2017 who was unable to be inducted last year. Kelly was a four-sport letterman and All District quarterback who led the first great DSHS football team of the modern era. He was also the first Jacket to play football at LSU during a walk-on season with the Baby Bengals freshman team in 1960.
Below are the highlights of the athletic, scholastic, and civic achievements of these honored sports figures:
Maurice Cockerham Durbin (Athlete)
Class of 2016
A four-year letterman in softball and basketball at DSHS, Maurice Cockerham was a Class A All State basketball star in 1960. She was the defensive counterpart to offensive phenom Celeste Gully, also an All State choice.
With Cockerham’s hustling, shut-down style of defense and Gully’s prolific scoring, the Lady Jackets were perennial District Champions. Cockerham was selected to a number of all star teams including the prestigious Livingston Parish Tournament which showcased several of the state’s best teams.
As a spirited first baseman, she helped the Lady Jacket softball team to a state runner-up finish in 1960. A well-rounded campus leader, Cockerham was named DSHS Best Defensive Player in basketball and was a two-time Class Favorite and Most Beautiful choice by her classmates. After her high school sports career, she later played in an independent women’s basketball league for the local team sponsored by Varnado Plumbing.
Following her graduation from LSU, she taught elementary school for two years, earning Bachelor of science, Masters of education, and Specialist in education degrees. She then founded Maurice Durbin & Associates and launched a successful 25-year career as a political lobbyist at the parish, state, and federal levels.
During this time, Durbin was the first Livingston Parish resident appointed to serve a six-year term on the Louisiana Board of Regents, the supervisory body that oversees Louisiana state colleges and trade schools. She was also elected to serve on the Democratic state central committee and then on the Democratic state executive committee for eight years. She was a past board member of the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce as well.
Durbin has been a devoted community leader for nearly three decades, having founded Pet Aid, Inc., a non-profit that spays and neuters dogs and cats within Livingston Parish. In 2000, she began a vital and ongoing role in city beautification through the founding of Denham Springs Green. Perhaps her most passionate contribution has been as a volunteer leader at the Denham Springs Animal Shelter, a relationship that has spanned 30 years. In 2003, it became the first no-kill municipal animal shelter in the state. Durbin was also instrumental in securing the property for the construction of an animal shelter in the town of Livingston.
Married to former three-term Denham Springs mayor, Jimmy Durbin, she served as the city’s First Lady for 12 years, helping transform the quiet town into a vibrant small city. Throughout these years Durbin worked to improve the city’s landscape and image, while championing programs at the local animal shelter.
She is the mother of a son and daughter.
Jimmy Tullos (Athlete)
Class of 2016
Jimmy Tullos was a talented athlete who was a stalwart of the gridiron, earning Class AA All State honors as a defensive safety his senior year (1968) and honorable mention All State as a junior. He was twice named to the All District and All Parish teams as a safety (1967, 1968).
Tullos was a rare, instinctive defensive back who was a magnet for the pigskin, having stolen nine interceptions as a junior and seven as a senior, a stunning performance believed to be the school record. During his senior campaign, abbreviated by injury, he intercepted seven passes in seven games, including three in one game. Not only was he a tenacious ball hawk, Tullos was a hard-nose tackler that punished Yellow Jacket opponents for two seasons.
He played for Hall of Fame football coach Louis Carlisle, advancing to the Class AA state semi-finals as a junior and defeating Covington in the Jaycee Bowl as a senior. He earned the DSHS Best Defensive Back award twice.
Tullos was also a three-year letterman for Hall of Fame basketball coach Alton Leggette, reaching the Class AA state semi-finals his junior year.
Upon graduation from high school, he served seven years in the U. S. Army as a medical corpsman, including a tour of duty in Berlin, West Germany, where he and nine other soldiers set a world record for Marathon Basketball. Playing five-on-five, full court, with no substitutes, the teams competed for 48 non-stop hours, breaking the old record by six hours.
As a civilian, Tullos worked 17 years for Peavey Electronics in Mississippi, performing computerized tests on circuit boards, before returning to Louisiana where he served as a Deputy Sheriff in Caldwell Parish. Beginning as a road deputy, he would eventually retire as a lieutenant at the Caldwell Parish Correctional Center, having received a host of awards for superior performance.
In 2014, Jimmy Tullos, the former Yellow Jacket football star, married Patricia Morrison, his homecoming queen and DSHS Most Beautiful honoree. They now live in Denham Springs.
He is the father of a son and daughter.
Jim Spring (Athlete/Supporter)
Class of 2016
The last of three brothers who were rugged athletes at DSHS, Jim Spring was a two-time All District and All Parish football center and linebacker (1961, 1962), and a 1962 All Regional pick. He was the first player in school history and in Livingston Parish to receive a four-year athletic scholarship to play football at an SEC university.
A student of the game who called defensive signals for the Jackets, Spring was named DSHS Best Lineman, Team Captain, and Most Valuable Player, and also received recognition for Most Minutes Played in 1961 and 1962—all but one minute in two seasons. He was a two-year track letterman in the discus as well. Spring was an Eagle Scout, Vice President of his senior class, and represented the school at the State Literary Rally.
At the college level, he was a three-year letterman at Tulane University and, as a sophomore, was the smallest starting center in the SEC at 190 pounds. In 1966 against LSU at old Tulane Stadium, he played before the largest crowd (82,567) to witness a night college football game in NCAA history at the time.
Spring spent 30 years as an active duty Army officer (1969-1999), retiring as a full colonel with 10 years of overseas assignments in southeast Asia, the middle east, and Europe. Among his duties at the colonel level were Post Commander of Oakland Army Base, CA; senior U. S. officer in the UN peacekeeping force in Iraq; and senior Military Advisor to the Ambassador at the American Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, during the period when the Islamic nation became a nuclear power.
At the lieutenant colonel level as a battalion commander, his battalion was selected Unit of the Year for its type in a geographic region west of the Mississippi River to the Indian Ocean. As the commander of Oakland Army Base, his command was awarded $40,000 in the Army’s Most Improved Installation competition.
A devoted Yellow Jacket fan and supporter, in 2011 Spring proposed the creation of a DSHS Athletic Hall of Fame and arranged the initial meeting between DSHS and the Denham Springs Athletic Association. Butch Wax and he were tasked to plan and organize the many guidelines and protocols that have culminated in what today has become a community treasure, now in its eighth year.
He also prepared the proposal and negotiated with Sport-N-Center to become the title sponsor which underwrites many of the expenses associated with the Hall of Fame. To build community support and promote the Hall of Fame and DSHS athletics, Spring has written over 75 press releases for area newspapers.
In 2008 Spring formed the first Board of the area Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), serving as President for three years. He organized the annual FCA Variety Show for five years, raising $25,000 for the spiritual welfare of students, athletes, and coaches at DSHS and throughout Livingston Parish.
In 2012 he proposed that “Yellow Jacket Sports” be showcased during a four-month public exhibit at Old City Hall sponsored by Denham Springs Main Street. He borrowed historic DSHS trophies, plaques, photographs, and sports memorabilia; publicized the event in the press; and organized an opening ceremony for the community.
In 2015 he proposed to the City of Denham Springs that the Yellow Jacket logo be prominently displayed on the water tower closest to the interstate. He prepared the formal documents, presented the proposal at a public meeting with the Mayor and City Council, and coordinated with Forte & Tablada Engineering until project completion.
During the Great Flood of 2016, the Hall of Fame display case in Hornsby Gym was destroyed, and funding for its replacement was a low priority for the school district. While the plaques were saved, it was unlikely they could be displayed there again in the near future. Spring proposed the Hall of Fame be relocated to Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill. He prepared and coordinated the Memorandum of Agreement between DSHS and Big Mike’s and organized the recent grand opening.
Spring is a graduate of Tulane (English) with a master’s degree from Ball State University (psychology). He is married to the former Kathy Brummett and is the father of a son and daughter.
Tom Kelly (Athlete)
Class of 2017
As a three-year starter at quarterback (1957-1959), Tom Kelly ran for 865 yards and scored 73 points while passing for 1,350 yards and 16 touchdowns in a backfield that boasted two-time All State running back Randy Rushing. Kelly was such a fierce tackler that head coach Charles Borde elected to also play him at linebacker on defense, a rare decision to expose the team’s quarterback to injury at such a rugged position.
A spirited athlete and natural leader, he was selected the team Most Valuable Player not because of his size or his statistics, but because he led by example and had a gift for inspiring his teammates. Kelly was also a star second baseman on Yellow Jacket softball teams that won State Championships in 1958, 1959, and 1960.
He embodied the student-athlete ideal as President of his sophomore and junior classes and Vice President of his senior class. Voted Most Energetic Student three times, he also served as FFA president and Key Club president. Kelly would eventually earn an athletic scholarship to play football at USL (ULL) after a walk-on season with the LSU freshman team. He is believed to be the first DSHS athlete to play football at LSU and to have played four years of collegiate football.
The leadership ability Kelly developed on the playing fields of his Denham Springs youth would later distinguish him as a leader on the football field at USL and the battlefields of Viet Nam. Having played quarterback in his formative years, and during his freshman season at LSU, he was at heart still a hitter who was called upon by legendary USL coach Russ Faulkinbery to play linebacker once again.
Though small in stature for the position, he nonetheless became a three-year letterman, a two-year starter, and defensive captain as a senior. In 1963 he would receive the USL Most Valuable Back award and recognition as an honorable mention NAIA Little All-America linebacker.
Kelly continued to be a campus leader off the football field, cited as a member of the 1964 Who’s Who in American Colleges & Universities, serving as a member of the USL student council and Blue Key Honor Society, and receiving an award as the USL student contributing the most to the College of Commerce.
Upon graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USMC as an armor officer, serving as a tank platoon leader in Viet Nam at age 24, an assignment for which he received the Bronze Star medal with “V” device signifying valor, a rare award for a second lieutenant to receive. He would later return to Viet Nam at the rank of captain as a tank company commander at age 27.
Between those tours he had the unenviable assignment as the Marine Recruitment Officer in the San Francisco Bay area during two volatile years of unrest on college campuses.
After 26 years of active duty service, Kelly retired as a full colonel before spending another 18 years with General Dynamics working as a contractor on military programs. His overseas tours were in Viet Nam, Okinawa, and Panama. He is a graduate of USL (business) and is married to Meredith Kelly.
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