Organization news and notes

There was a special atmosphere at the Seventh Annual Football Scholar-Athlete luncheon held at the JW Marriott Hotel hosted by the Touchdown Club of Houston.

Pearland's Michael Speciale was named as one of 25 finalists for the annual award and found himself among some of the top scholar-athletes in the Houston area.

Each nominee received a certificate from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, and the student-athlete's name will be entered into the database at the College Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana.

All 25 student-athletes are winners, on and off the field, and each has proven that they are more than just brawn on the gridiron. The term "dumb jock" certainly didn't pertain to these finalists who have accomplished a lot more in life than just playing football.

Speciale has been a valuable asset to the Pearland football program for the past three years and has epitomized the term "team player." Speciale played fullback and quarterback his sophomore year and then did double time as a fullback and linebacker during his junior season.

When head coach Tony Heath was looking for a quarterback to replace All-District signal-caller Brandon Buckner from last year's team, it didn't take long for him to put Speciale back in the driver's seat of the Pearland offensive machine.

"Michael is a special athlete for us at Pearland," Heath said. "He is a total team player and has always been willing to play wherever we asked and he has given it 100 percent which has served as an inspiration to all of our players."

Speciale is one of those rare all-purpose athletes that has a drive to win and his teammates feed off his competitive spirit which is one of the reasons why the Oilers completed the 2005 football campaign at 10-0 and only the third team in Pearland football history to finish the regular season without a blemish.

"We saw a winner in Michael when he was playing in the seventh and eighth grade and knew he was going to be some kind of athlete," Heath said. "But he also knows what it means to pay the price in the classroom which is the reason he was named as one of the finalists for such a prestigious award."
Each student-athlete received a minimum $500 scholarship with three athletes selected for the top three scholarships awards. Voters who selected this year's 25 finalists were the presidents of the three football-playing colleges in Houston. They were Priscilla Slate (Texas Southern University), David W. Leebron (Rice University), and Jay Gogue (University of Houston). All candidates were judged on athletics (stats, honors), academics (GPA), and citizenship (extra-curricular activities).

Blake Dyer of Kempner won the top scholarship of $1,500 while Cory Couch of Baytown Sterling won the second place award of $1,250 and Russell Roberts of Spring Woods won the third place amount of $1,000.

Speciale ranks 56 out of 880 seniors at Pearland High School and has a 4.2 grade point average based on a 4.0 scale. He was a second-team All-District pick last year at fullback and a first-team All-District selection in baseball. He is also a member of the National Spanish Honor Society.

Speciale is the son of Mike and Jo Ann Speciale who also attended the luncheon. Coach Doug Hagar was also present in support of this outstanding student-athlete.

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