Tookie Spann

Emmanuel "Tookie" Spann attended Brother Martin High School in New Orleans where he starred as both a football and baseball player. During the 1983-84 school year, Spann led the Crusaders to a Catholic League championship as the quarterback of the football team and then helped the baseball team go on all the way to win what many still consider to be a legendary state championship. Spann went on to play both sports at Tulane University as well. As a defensive back on the football team, Spann served as a team captain during both the 1986 and 1987 seasons under coach Mack Brown. As an outfielder for the Green Wave baseball team, Spann hit .361 for his career with 52 home runs. Leading Tulane to 3 consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, Spann was named All-American by Baseball America after each of the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Spann was selected in the 3rd round of the 1988 Major League Draft by the Detroit Tigers, but after 6 seasons of toiling in the minor leagues retired from professional baseball.