Touchdown Club to honor Msgr. Clinton Doskey, Ron Brocato

Msgr. Clinton Doskey, the retired pastor of St. Pius X Church, and Clarion Herald sports editor Ron Brocato will be among those honored by The Touchdown Club of New Orleans at a banquet Feb. 25 at The Windsor Court Hotel.

Always at home with sports and Mardi Gras celebrations, Msgr. Doskey has served as chaplain of The Touchdown Club for decades, always reciting the opening prayer at banquets and at other club functions.

“This is the way I look at it,” Msgr. Doskey said. “A priest should be part of the life of his people, and I see in the life of the people of New Orleans two main things – Mardi Gras and the Saints. Therefore, I decided to be involved in both of those things. Why not?”

In addition to his chaplaincy duties with The Touchdown Club, Msgr. Doskey has served as chaplain of the Krewe of Endymion, dating back to the days when he was pastor of St. Leo the Great Church and the parade started on DeSaix Boulevard in Gentilly.

The Touchdown Club was founded in 1967 when a group of New Orleans businessmen banded together to help defray the cost of an NFL fine levied against Saints linebacker Steve Stonebreaker for fighting in a game against the New York Giants.

Saints gave city a boost

Msgr. Doskey said the Saints provided the entire region with an emotional lift by the ways they transformed themselves into one of the NFL’s best franchises after Hurricane Katrina and then won Super Bowl XLIV in February 2010.

“The main thing is they gave the city hope and purpose,” Msgr. Doskey said. “It was as though they said, ‘Look, we’ve got to get this thing back together.’ I thought the Saints were the real lifeline, the real spark, to get this city together. In some kind of way, the Saints helped us get this thing working.”

Asked to name a few of his all-time favorite Saints’ players, Msgr. Doskey mentioned left tackle Willie Roaf, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, and quarterback Drew Brees.

“I’m happy to see Willie get to the Hall of Fame,” he said. “He used to be at many of our club meetings. He was a great player and a great person. And, of course, Drew. He came with his wife to The Touchdown Club meetings. He’s a good guy. And I like Mr. (Tom) Benson.”

A 2013 prediction?

Who knows, with any luck, the Saints might be playing a “home” game next February when Super Bowl XLVII is played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

“What do you mean, ‘Who knows?’” Msgr. Doskey said. “We already know who’s going to be there – the Saints.”

Distinguished career

Brocato, the Clarion Herald sports editor since 1997, will receive the Bob Roesler Media Award for his lifetime work covering sports, mostly on the high school level in Louisiana. In 2011, he received the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

He has received numerous journalism awards, including Louisiana Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 1974, and Prep Writer of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association in 1997.

“I saw my first football game at age 11 in 1952,” Brocato said. “It was on a Sunday afternoon in City Park, a game that matched Jesuit and Holy Cross. I was hooked from then on.

“I have been fortunate over the last 47 years to be a part of high school sports, and football in particular, by my endeavors to perpetuate the sport at its basic level through my stories about the many teams and athletes who played the game. To be honored by The Touchdown Club for doing what I love with an award named for a man with whom I worked and admired as a journalist is indeed a special blessing.”

Other honorees

Also to be honored will be Carl Peterson, former president of the Kansas City Chiefs (Pete Rozelle Award); LSU coach Les Miles (College Award); and Riverside Academy coach Mickey Roussel (Prep Award).

Tickets for the banquet are available by calling The Touchdown Club at 242-4545 or go to http://www.tdcno.org. Proceeds benefit the Ray Hester Leukemia Research Fund through the Ochs­ner Clinic Foundation.

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at pfinney@clarionherald.org.