BERLIN- Stephen Decatur standout varsity football player Sam Coates last week was awarded the Seahawks’ “Tough Guy of the Year” award during a special end-of-season ceremony.
Most of the accolades in football at any level are reserved for the glamour guys, the golden-armed quarterbacks and fleet-footed running backs who put points on the board and thrill the crowd, but the weekly “Tough Guy” award is handed out to the Decatur player who best exemplifies the spirit of Seahawk football. Started 11 years ago by Atlantic Physical Therapy president Bob Hammond, the weekly ATP “Tough Guy of the Week” award acknowledges the efforts of an individual player, or on some occasions a unit on the team, that do the little things to help the team win that don’t necessarily show up in the box score.
Week in and week out during the season, the ATP “Tough Guy” award recognized those players, who are rewarded with a handsome trophy each week. At the end of the season, a “Tough Guy of the Year” award is presented to the player who best exemplified those qualities throughout the year. Last week, Coates was named “Tough Guy of the Year” for 2014.