Reyenaldo "Chito" Martinez ('84) played 158 games with the Baltimore Orioles from 1991-1993.

• The native of Belize, British Honduras, was drafted in the sixth round of the 1984 ML draft by the Kansas City Royals.
• After six years in the minors, he hit .322 with 20 HR at Rochester, Baltimore's AAA International League affiiliate, in 1991. That earned a promotion to the parent club that year.
• He played in 67 games as DH-OF for the Black and Orange. He batted .269 with 13 HR and 33 RBI.
• He played the entire '92 season in an Orioles uniform, hitting .268 with 5 HR and 25 RBI.
• He began the '93 season as an Oriole but was farmed out after only 8 games. He finished that season and then played two more but never returned to the majors.

A humorous incident in one of Chito's last ML games - humorous to everyone but Oriole manager Johnny Oates - may have contributed to his demotion.

• The bizarre play occurred on April 17, 1993, in the 8th inning with one out against the California Angels at Camden Yards.
• Trailing 6-5, the Orioles had the bases loaded with Jeff Tackett on 3rd, Brady Anderson on 2nd, and Martinez on 1st after being intentionally walked as a pinch hitter.
• The next batter, Mike Devereaux, smacked a sinking liner that was trapped by CF Chad Curtis. Tackett, thinking the ball would be caught, returned to 3rd.
• In the meantime, Anderson took off and joined Tackett on the bag.
• Martinez, running all the way, chugged around second and crashed the party at the hot corner.
• Angels' C John Orton took the throw in from Curtis, ran to 3B, and tagged all three Orioles. Tackett was forced out (Orton could have just touched the plate to put him out). Anderson, who was entitled to third, was safe. So Martinez became the third out to end a promising rally. The Angels won the game, 7-5.

The blunder turned out to be Martinez's last time on base in the majors.

Robert M. "Mike" Rood ('85) began officiating high school football games in 1996.

• A resident of the capital city, Mike is a member of the Baton Rouge Area Football Officials Association.
• He serves as the back judge. The first game he worked in this position, one of the QBs was future Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, playing for Newman against University High in BR.
• Of the rivalries he's worked, his favorite is East Ascension vs. St. Amant. "One of the better football games I have ever been part of was St. Amant's 2001 overtime road win in the rivalry."
• Mike worked his first state semifinal in 2003. In 2008, he worked another semifinal game between Belle Chasse and Bastrop in Bastrop when it was so cold there was frost on the goal line pylons and icicles hanging from the cross bars of the goal posts. The field became littered with packets of skin warming lotion discarded by the players.
• His first state championship game in the Dome came in 2001 when he was clock operator. Two years later, he called the Lutcher vs. Notre Dame (Crowley) final.
• "One of the more exciting finishes I have ever seen was in a second round playoff game at Tad Gormley in 2009 when McDonogh 35 was leading eventual state champion Neville by 9 points with less than two minutes to go in the game and Neville scored 9 points to force overtime, where they kicked a game winning field goal."
• "In my opinion, the best part of this avocation is the camaraderie and meeting and developing what will surely be lifelong friendships with guys that I would not have otherwise ever met."

After playing G for Bob Conlin's Crusaders, Edward Robinson Jr. attended Alabama State University in Montgomery, where he earned a degree in chemistry while playing football for the Hornets. Gaining strength and skill, he played LB so well that he was drafted in the second round in 1992 by the Houston Oilers.

Eddie played 11 years in the NFL: four with the Oilers, two with Jacksonville, four with the Tennessee Titans, and one with the Buffalo Bills.

• His first season, Robinson was the only rookie starter for the Oilers, who were coached by former all-pro NFL LB Jack Pardee. Eddie made 64 tackles and was named first-team All-Rookie by College & Pro Football Weekly. His second year, he registered 57 tackles.
• A high point of Eddie's career was a 49-yard interception return for a TD against the Cincinnati Bengals for Houston in 1995.
• His two best years came with the Titans in 1998 and 1999 when he had 72 tackles and then 68. Eddie played in the Super Bowl against the Rams after the 1999 season. That was the year Tennessee pulled the "Music City Miracle," using a lateral on the kickoff with 16 seconds left to score the winning TD in a playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.

Jon Heidenreich ('87) played O-line for Bob Conlin on Elysian Fields. He then lettered at Mississippi State in 1988. He subsequently played in the Canadian Football League for the Shreveport Pirates in 1994-5 (when the CFL expanded briefly to the U.S.) and then for the Texas Terror of the Arena Football League in 1996 and the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 1997. Though signed by several NFL teams, including the Saints, he never survived training camp.

Born in Los Angeles, Jon began martial arts training at age six and earned his first-degree black belt at 12. So after completing his football career, he signed a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) developmental contract in 2001. He debuted on Raw in 2003 and the following year appeared on SmackDown! He won the World Wrestling Council Heavyweight Championship in 2006 but lost the title in January 2007. He now wrestles for All-American Wrestling out of Lafayette.

Jon lives in Picayune MS with his wife and two children.

Butler Powell ('56) played football and baseball at St. Aloysius.

• Butler was the backstop on the 1955 Coca Cola American Legion team that won the regional championship.
• He was C/LB of the 1955 City Championship gridiron squad. He ran back an INT 30ys for a TD against Nicholls and repeated the feat for a 32y score against Holy Cross.

Powell then played baseball at Loyola from 1957-60 for Coach Louis "Rags" Scheuermann.

• He started behind the plate for the Wolfpack for four years. During that period, LU's record was 46-24.
• He hit .354 in 1959 to win the Maroon's Sports Citation award.
• In Powell's final season in maroon and gold, the 'Pack went 16-2. He was given the key to the city on the day of his final game, which was proclaimed "Butler Powell Day."
• He signed a bonus contract with the Milwaukee Braves after earning both BBA and MBA degrees.

Butler played six seasons of minor league baseball in the Braves chain.

• He joined Boise of the Class C Pioneer league for 23 games in 1960, then played 107 games there the next season, hitting .287 with 7 HR. He played only 8 games for Boise in 1962 because he had to fulfill his military obligation as a member of the reserves.
• In 1963, he played for Yakima (WA) in the Class A Northwest league, hitting .292 with 5 HR.
• He appeared in 115 games in 1964 with AA Austin of the Texas League before a brief call-up to AAA Denver at the end of the season.
• Butler was back in Austin for 1965 to hit .357 and whack 10 HR. During his stint at Austin, he caught every inning of the longest game ever played in the Texas League – 25 innings.
• He finished his career with a .273 average and 30 HR.

Butler later did some coaching at Ecole Classique. He entered the Loyola Hall of Fame in 2002. Today he is retired from the banking business in New Orleans.

James Pierre Thibaut (SA '38) was an outstanding RB and kicker for the Crusaders. Ron Brocato lists Thibaut among the "Great Players of the 1930s" in his book The Golden Game: When Prep Football Was King in New Orleans. Brocato calls him an "explosive back." Jimmy also played basketball at 1137 Esplanade.

Thibaut lettered in football for Tulane in 1939-40-41. He was co-captain on Coach Lowell Dawson's 5-4 team his senior year. In addition to serving as RB, Jim also did the place kicking. He kicked the winning PAT in the Green Wave's 14-13 win over North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1940.

Jim was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 12th round (107th overall) of the 1942 NFL Draft. However, World War II intervened and Jim served in the Navy. On September 23, 1945, he scored the only TD, a one-yard plunge, in the 7-0 victory of the Fleet City (CA) Bluejackets over the 2nd Air Force at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

After the war, the 27-year-old Thibaut played as a 5'11" 205 FB/LB for the Buffalo Bisons of the new All-America Football Conference in 1946. (The Bisons became the Bills the next few seasons, then ceased to exist until the city joined the American Football League in 1960.) Appearing in three games, Jim ran 10 times for 48y.

Thibaut returned to New Orleans, where he coached and officiated. His son, James P. Thibaut II (SA '69) followed in his father's footsteps as a Crusader gridder.

Derrick Collins was the leader of the Crusader team that reached the state semifinals in 1983. He then played four years at Xavier University in New Orleans. Derrick holds the career record for assists for the Gold Rush with 789 as well as the single game assists record (19 vs. Spring Hill in 1986). He made the All Gulf Coast Athletic Conference team three years in a row and earned honorable mention NAIA All-American.

After graduating from Xavier with a B.A. in Mass Communications in 1988, Collins embarked on a career as a basketball official that has taken him to the highest level of his profession.

• Derrick officiated Louisiana high school games for seven years.
• He refereed college games for the Big 12, Sun Belt, C-USA, Southland, SEC, TAAC, OVC and SWAC for seven years.
• Collins officiated five years in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA - at the time the "minor league" for the NBA) and three years in the WNBA. He worked two CBA Finals and three WNBA Playoffs and Finals.
• Derrick became a part-time NBA official in 1999-2000 and moved to full-time status for the 2001-2 season.
• Derrick and his family have moved back to their Slidell home after spending time in Texas following Katrina.
• The NBA Officials Media Guide says Derrick "enjoys fishing, horseback riding, pool, weight training, bowling and golf."

Phillip Brock starred at RB for Coach Mark Songy, making All-District as a senior in 1999.

• That season, Brock rushed for 1,612 yards and accounted for a school record 27 TDs (22 rushing, 4 receiving, 1 passing). He broke nine offensive season records.
• His finest hour came in the 42-35 OT victory over De La Salle. Phillip accounted for 332 of the Crusaders' 334y. BM trailed 35-28 late in the game when Brock hit TE Chris Bailey with a 58y HB-pass to set up the game-tying TD.
• The next week, Brock led the Saders to a 5-0 record (first time since 1985) in the 24-17 victory over Jesuit. He carried 31 times for 191y, including a 37y TD.

The 6'0" 205 lb RB lettered four years (2000-3) at Nicholls State. The Colonels' best record during his tenure was 7-4 in 2002.

Since leaving the Bayou, Brock has played for a number of pro teams in various leagues.

• 2006: Receiver for the Centex Barracudas of the Indoor Football League. In eight games, caught 34 passes for 397y and 11 TD.
• 2006: Rushed for 916y and 12 TD in 8 games for the Tucson Blaze of the Arizona Semi-Pro League.
• 2007: Training camp with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.
• 2008: WR/RB for the Peoria Pirates of af2, the minor league of the Arena Football League. Scored five TDs to lead Peoria to a 76-32 victory over Tri-Cities and earn Offensive Player of the Game.
• 2009: Pre-season with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

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