By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — Former Riverside football coach Mickey Roussel stepped down from his longtime post with the Rebels after 22 extremely successful seasons. His accomplishments did not go unnoticed.

Roussel was recently the recipient of the Touchdown Club of New Orleans’ Pete Rozelle Award, an honor bestowed upon those who have made significant contributions to the game of football throughout the entirety of his career.

Roussel received the award at a banquet held Feb. 25 at the club’s annual awards banquet at the Windsor Court Hotel.

“They let me know at the end of November that I had been nominated. It floored me,” said Roussel. “I’ve received some awards before, but this certainly ranks at the top, given who selects and chooses the recipients.”

The club bestows the Rozelle Award upon someone at the professional, prep and collegiate level each season. This season, LSU head coach Les Miles received the collegiate award and former Kansas City Chiefs team president Carl Peterson received the professional award. Ron Brocato was also awarded the honor for his contributions through the media.

Roussel’s long tenure with the Rebels will go down as a success by any measure. Roussel built a win-loss record of 196-82 and guided Riverside to the state championship game three times, while leading the Rebels to the semifinals a total of seven times. In 1998, Riverside set a school record for wins in a season with 14. After a brief retirement in 2007, Roussel returned with renewed vigor, his second run with the team highlighted by a 2010 season that saw the Rebels reach the state quarterfinals and virtually rewrite the school’s offensive record books, riding a powerful spread offense to an average of well over 40 points per game.

“When you look at the continued excellence of the Riverside program, how it produces so many good student athletes as well as its on-field success, we feel he’s absolutely a great choice,” said Charlie Heim, the co-chair of the nomination committee. “Getting a chance to meet him, you realize he’s such a high-quality individual … he’s a recipient we can be very proud of.”

Roussel said that the night was one he’ll cherish.

“It was a great night,” he said. “The ironic thing about it is that the proceeds from the banquet go to the Ray Hester Leukemia Research fund. It was fitting, to say the least.”

That’s because Roussel, himself, is a leukemia survivor, having overcome the disease that he was diagnosed with in 1997 and that is now in remission. It was something he discussed during the speech he gave at the banquet after being presented.

“He was a wonderful recipient and speaker,” said Terry Lowe, the event’s organizer. “He talked about his battle with leukemia … he told us that when it happened, he wanted more than anything to see his daughter (Kelsi) live to 17. And now she is … he made us all cry.”

Roussel thanked, among others, his wife and daughter and his prep coach, Thomas Fernandez. He also thanked the local businesses that bought tables at the event to raise money for the Ray Hester Fund: Rain CII, Roussel’s Tire and Car Care and Performance Contractors.

“The hope is that they find a cure for what we have,” he said.

He hasn’t ruled out a return to coaching, but Roussel said that he’s going to “back off” for now.

“I’ve got some things going on in other endeavors right now. I’m not in a hurry,” he said. “I get to see my daughter play softball.”