Former SMU All-America Jerry LeVias will be honored by the Touchdown Club of Houston at 7 p.m., Wed., Aug. 15, at the JW Marriott, 5150 Westheimer in the Galleria. LeVias will receive the IW Marks Touchdowner of the Year Award, which is given annually for extraordinary contributions and outstanding achievements reflecting honor and sportsmanship to football over a lengthy period of time. A Beaumont native, LeVias was the first person of color on a football scholarship in the defunct Southwest Conference, and played for the Houston Oilers.
Past Touchdowner winners include Kyle Rote (1968), Darrell Royal (1969), Bear Bryant (1971), Dutch Meyer (1975), Matty Bell (1976), Sammy Baugh (1977), John David Crow (1979), Bobby Layne (1980), Doak Walker (1981), Roger Staubach (1984), Bill Yeoman (1987), Forrest Gregg (1991), Dave Campbell (1996), Earl Campbell (1998), Spike Dykes (2001), Ken Hatfield (2002), Hayden Fry (2005) and Mack Brown (2006).
Currently scheduled to speak at the gala are former SMU teammate Rufus Cormier and former SMU coach Hayden Fry.
Tickets are $40 each. Tables are $400 (regular table), $500 (bronze table sponsorship), $1,000 (silver table sponsorship), $1,500 (gold table sponsorship) and $5,000 (platinum table sponsorship). All tables are 10 seats each. Bronze, silver, gold and platinum sponsors will have their names in the event's paper program and meet with Jerry in a private reception.
A 501-c-3, not-for-profit organization, the TD Club has given out approximately $130,000 in weights and weight equipment to 24 Greater Houston high schools in the past six years, and has awarded about $125,000 in scholarships to high school kids in the past eight years.
