By Doug Ireland
Turns out not all the precious moments that come from being inducted in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame happen during induction weekend.
Two very special presentations took place recently, not during the traditional June ceremonies in Natchitoches.
One of the trademarks of Hall of Fame induction is the presentation of the uniquely designed, personally tailored blazer by Baton Rouge clothier Pearce Bespoke. Along with an elegant light blue and gold pattern, the Hall of Fame blazers feature an inside liner with a pattern of LSHOF logos and the inductee’s name and induction year embroidered inside under the breast pocket.
The jacket presentations began in 2022. Don’t know Pearce Bespoke? You’ve seen their work. They’re the favored tailor for LSU sports standouts, among others. They’ve done suits for the Tigers’ last two Heisman Trophy winners, Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels; they’ve dressed other LSU sports superstars like Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews; and recently, the LSU football players at July’s SEC Media Days were wearing custom suits from Pearce Bespoke.
LSHOF Foundation CEO/President Ronnie Rantz – a Holy Savior Menard graduate — brokered a deal with the tailor to provide inductees’ blazers for a decade. The concept is modeled after the “gold jackets” that each Pro Football Hall of Fame member receives prior to induction. They even have a Gold Jacket dinner and ceremony the night before the induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio.
The LSHOF jacket presentations happen on the first day, at the first event, the press conference. When each inductee is introduced for a question and answer session, Pearce Bespoke staffers are there with the blazers, carefully arranged in the order of presentation. That made for a striking sight back on June 26 when LSU gymnast April Burkholder’s tiny blazer was next to the massive jacket going to 6-foot-8 West Monroe HS, LSU and NFL Pro Bowler Andrew Whitworth, now part of the Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football annoucing crew.
In each of the past two summers, not all the inductees were able to attend. In 2024, Mixed Martial Arts legend Daniel Cormier of Lafayette had begged out of an ABC TV assignment covering an event in Saudi Arabia so he could come from California with his kids for enshrinement. But two weeks before, his replacement on the anouncing crew for the Middle Eastern event had a personal situation arise that forced him to drop out. ABC came back to Cormier, and it’s very likely the Saudis sweetened the pot considerably for him. He reluctantly changed course but taped his induction interview and it was immediately apparent to the audience in Natchitoches that night how grateful and proud he was to be going into his home state’s Hall of Fame.
But he did not get his inductee blazer presented to him. Neither did, a year later, Bobby Soileau – also a fighter of great accomplishment.
Soileau is considered the greatest high school boxer in state history. At Sacred Heart High School in Ville Platte, in the heyday of boxing as a prep sport, he won four state championships and went 96-2 in five years. One of his two losses came in the state championship bout in his junior season. As a sophomore at LSU, he won the 1956 NCAA championship in the 125-pound class. Then he hurt a shoulder at the USA Olympic Trials and LSU dropped boxing.
Soileau, 89, did not attend this summer’s induction. Dementia has shrouded his memories and restricted his lifestyle, but he resides in an assisted living facility with family nearby, constantly visiting. His son Robert says his dad does remember his mom’s and his brothers’ names, and their nicknames, and that he was a boxer. On a good day, Soileau recalls he won a national championship at LSU, where he counted Tiger legend Billy Cannon, a classmate, among his best friends.
When Robert gets ready to walk out of his dad’s room, a recurring scene plays out, described by former Alexandria Town Talk sports editor Raymond Partsch III in his masterful inductee profile published in June on LaSportsHall.com:
As the years go by, the memories of a Hall of Fame career fade more and more, but they still flicker inside Soileau, even if it is only for a few moments. Every day when Robert leaves the nursing home where his father resides, he goes through a famililar routine, which he leared from sparring with his dad six decades ago. Now he gives that precious gift back to his father.
“Before I walk out, I put my hands up and ask if he can still move,” Robert said. ‘Without hesitation, he throws me a few of those left jabs. His hands are still really fast. He is still in there.”
A few weeks ago, after the festivities in Natchitoches where Robert represented his dad, the LSHOF blazer found the man. Family gathered. Robert showed him the jacket, the liner, his name, and handed him the induction plaque and helped his dad pull on the blazer. Those were golden moments.
A couple of weeks ago, a year removed from his 2024 enshrinement, Cormier finally pulled on his jacket. It happened in New Orleans, where Cormier was on the TV crew for the UFC318 card showcasing the final fight by another Lafayette MMA legend, Dustin Poirier, in the sold-out Smoothie King Center.
Rantz, who was there primarily in his role as chairman of the Louisiana State Athletic Commission, surprised Cormier with the LSHOF jacket. Joining in on the moment: Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.
The delight was obvious. Cormier’s teenage son was among those pulling out iPhones to capture the occasion.
In both cases, it wasn’t about adding to a wardrobe. It was about a token of appreciation for men with legendary sports accomplishments that forever have their distinct place in Louisiana history. They were presented a gift that only the truly elite state sports figures will ever receive.
Hearts lept. The smiles and sparkling eyes in the photos alongside this story attest to that.
