News

First Mickey Marvin award winners announced

Mickey Marvin Scholarship winners, from left, are Christopher Fuge, Alexander Browning, Jhon Salguero and Damian Murphy.

By Natasha Townsend, Published: June 2, 2017

Mickey Marvin, the longtime NFL star who never forgot his hometown, lives on through the Mickey Marvin Scholarship and its first recipients.

The four winners, one from each high school in Henderson County, were awarded the $3,000 scholarship based on desire, character, a big heart and most importantly, the best attitude, said Toby Jones, owner of Toby’s Mattress Outlet and Marvin’s friend, who founded the scholarship fund.

It was Jones’ idea to have a golf tournament to raise proceeds for the scholarship, and Marvin granted its approval. This past year’s golf tournament on Oct. 3 was so successful that Serta’s district manager gave Jones $5,000 for advertising next year’s tournament.

The four winners appeared with Jones and members of the Education Foundation Thursday afternoon at Toby’s Mattress Outlet to take pictures and learn about Mickey Marvin, who died of ALS on March 6.

A graduate of West Henderson High School and college All-America at the University of Tennessee, Marvin played with the Oakland Raiders for 11 years, winning two Super Bowls as a right offensive guard.
It was also his character off the field that made Mickey a friend to many. Jones recounted Marvin’s sense of humor, his large bear hugs and his passion for ending bullying. Mickey Marvin jerseys will go to each school in Henderson County to remind students to take part in stopping bullying.
The scholarship has had a successful first year and will have another golf tournament this October, as well as a Mickey Marvin camp on July 15th and build a plaque commemorating Marvin at West Henderson High School, where he began playing football.
The first-year winners were nominated by their schools for exhibiting character traits similar to those of Mickey Marvin and were selected by the Henderson County Education Foundation.
Damian Murphy, North Henderson’s recipient, who will attend Western in the fall said, “It means everything. North hasn’t gotten a lot of recognition and just for someone to see me as doing good, it means a lot,” when asked what winning the award meant to him.
West Henderson’s recipient, Alexander Browning, will attend Clemson. “This award is more meaningful than any other type of sport award I could’ve gotten because it is more of a character-centered award,” he said. “It was about portraying the same traits that Mickey had, and one of the biggest things that Mickey was about was no matter how far he went, he always remembered it was all about his community and God that got him wherever he went, and no matter what I do in life or how far I go I will always remember the same concepts, so it was just an honor to even be put in the same category as him.”
Hendersonville’s Jhon Salguero will attend A-B Tech next year. “It means everything to win this award because I didn’t think I was going to be a good prospect for it,” he said. “I’ve always tried hard to be the best person I can be because it’s my civic duty, and it’s a true honor. I’ve heard about Mickey Marvin, and I learned about the scholarship and just to win it, I was shocked. When my football coach told me about it, I almost broke out in tears because we were both so happy about it. It means a great deal to me.”
East Henderson’s winner Christopher Fuge will attend East Tennessee State University to study English. “First of all, it helps towards college,” he said about what the scholarship meant to him. “This one’s really important. Not only was Mickey a great football player, but a great person in the community. He did everything he could to give back and make life better for everyone else. It really does mean a lot. I would like to thank the Education Foundation because scholarships go a long way and every bit helps, and I’m just really grateful for this opportunity.”