McNeese State University senior wide receiver Steven Whitehead, a 2004 Salmen graduate, was named to the Louisiana Sports Writers Association all-Louisiana collegiate football team as a second-teamer.

Whitehead talked about the accomplishment.

“It’s always an honor to make the all-Louisiana team,” Whitehead said. “We’ve seen guys on that team. Most of us have come through the Louisiana high school ranks and it’s good to be mentioned in the same breath with those guys.”

Whitehead

This is the second time he has made the squad. Whitehead, who received a medical hardship last season due to a knee injury, was named to the first team as a kick returner and second team as a wide receiver two years ago in his junior year.

Whitehead (5-foot-8, 173 pounds), who said he patterns his game after Carolina Panthers’ wide receiver Steve Smith, was the Cowboys leading receiver by a wide margin. He caught 57 passes for 810 yards (14.2 yards per catch) and four touchdowns, while averaging 73.6 receiving yards per game. Cowboys’ tailback Todd Pendland, who also made the second team, was the Cowboys second-leading receiver with 36 receptions for 349 yards and three scores.

McNeese State went 7-4 this year and finished 21st in Division I AA.

Whitehead said it was a tough year since he was coming back from the injury and because the team suffered injuries at wide receiver. Quinten Lawrence was lost for the year in the fifth game and Immanuel Friddle was in-and-out of the lineup with injuries.

“I was seeing double and triple teams,” Whitehead said. “I worked hard and it was good to get praise for it.”

Whitehead was also a running threat. He carried the ball 34 times for 194 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and a TD. He was valuable on special teams with 20 punt returns for 147 yards (7.3 average) and a long of 42. Whitehead returned 14 kickoffs for 321 yards (22.9 average) and a long of 44.

Whitehead was second on the Cowboys’ squad to Pendland with 1,472 all-purpose yards. Pendland finished with 1,927.

Mandeville coach Guy LeCompte, who was the offensive coordinator at Salmen during Whitehead’s high-school career, said he is happy with the way Whitehead has progressed.

“I’m extremely proud of Steven and more proud of the way he’s matured from high school to college,” LeCompte said.

The Skippers’ coach also said Whitehead is a good athlete.

“Things have always come easy for him. He was head-and-shoulders above the players on the field. He’s a dynamic player and a student of the game,” LeCompte said.

Whitehead, who said he and LeCompte have kept in touch and usually tries to talk to him about once a month, said he enjoyed playing for LeCompte.

“He was always looking for insight from players because he told us we were the ones out there,” Whitehead said.

He added that Bill Stubbs, who was the headman at Salmen for his freshman and sophomore year, and coach LeCompte were big inspirations.

Right now, Whitehead is looking at his options for the National Football League and is waiting on a reply on playing in the Texas versus the Nation Bowl. Whitehead is a mass communications major.

He is the son of Marilyn Whitehead, who now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.