McNeese State SID Louis Bonnette Reaches Milestone Saturday with 500th Consecutive Game
PHOTO GALLERY
Lake Charles American Press Story (Oct. 23)
LAKE CHARLES, La. - It's something most people don't even think twice about. A name, "Louis Bonnette Field," scribbled on the turf between the 20 and 30 yard lines at Cowboy Stadium.
Despite common profiles of people who may have an entire field dedicated in their honor, Louis Bonnette is not a donor or even a former player or coach. In fact, he can still be found roaming the halls of the McNeese State field house where he has served as the school's Sports Information Director for 43 years and counting.
During this Saturday's home football game against Southeastern Louisiana, Bonnette will reach a personal milestone that is unheard of in his profession. It's his 500th consecutive Cowboy football game.
McNeese is observing the occasion by "Going Blue for Lou" with as much ceremony as the unassuming guest of honor will allow before kickoff. He'll receive a unique McNeese Cowboys football jersey - complete with No. 500.
Only coaches like Joe Paterno and Eddie Robinson can provide comparable strings of consecutive games worked at one school. No SID has ever done it. That is one of the reasons Bonnette was inducted during the summer in the College Sports Information Directors Association Hall of Fame.
For a man who has dedicated the majority of his days to looking up statistics and conveying player information to various media outlets, Bonnette has racked up some pretty gaudy numbers of his own, including a .631 winning percentage during his watch and over 189, 282 miles traveled with the team.
Bonnette has also seen the team through 24 playoff games, two national championship appearances and three bowl games, including the first ever Independence Bowl in 1976.
He has been to every corner of the United States and seen three Super Bowl MVP award winners in Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach and Kurt Warner.
Other players seen lining up against the Cowboys under his watchful eye include "Mean Joe" Greene, Daunte Culpepper, Bobby Hebert, Stan Humphries, Bubby Brister, LeRoy Harris, Joe Delaney, Fred Dean and Roland Harper.
Ten head coaches have come and gone during Bonnette's time, accounting for all 12 of the school's Southland Conference football titles. Some of the more impressive names roaming the opposing sidelines Bonnette has seen include Butch Davis, R.C. Slocum, Bill Snyder, Paul Johnson, Jim Tressel, Bobby Collins and Jerry Glanville.
During the 43 years as SID Bonnette has seen just about every landmark football game in the school's history including the largest attendance ever in Cowboy Stadium, 27,500 during a 1976 match up against USL.
Other memorable moments include a 1979 regular-season finale in which Don Stump started his McNeese hall of fame kicking career by booting two field goals and leading the Cowboys to just their second-ever undefeated season and an Independence Bowl berth.
By the way - guess who created the McNeese Hall of Fame? Yes, Mr. Bonnette. A few years ago he was even inducted - by secret ballot, much to his dismay.
Bonnette has seen individual records broken as well, including running back Tony Citizen setting a school and NCAA freshman record when he took 30 carries for 304 yards and four touchdowns in 1986 and quarterback Kerry Joseph setting a school rushing record for his position with 177 yards during a playoff game in 1994.
Nine different U.S. presidents have made their way into office since Bonnette first started at McNeese, and he's traded in his typewriter for a computer, but other than that, not much has changed.
You can still find Bonnette huddled in his office behind 43 years worth of old game programs and media guides, or cracking jokes for the media at his weekly press conferences.
He's not a ceremonial figure. He still does the work that counterparts 30 and 40 years younger are doing. He's mastered modern design programs and digital photography and is innovative on the internet.
His two sons, Michael and Matthew, have followed in his footsteps. Michael is the Assistant AD/SID at powerhouse LSU. Matthew is the award-winning associate SID at fellow Southland Conference member Northwestern State.
Truly, Louis Bonnette is one of a kind in his profession, and in the history of athletics in Louisiana and college football around the country.