John Sievert of St. Ansgar High School is presented the 2011 Ed Thomas Mr. Football Award presented by the Iowa Newspaper Association by Iowa Newspaper Association Board Member Ryan Harvey. Photo by John Jensen, Grundy Register, for the Iowa Newspaper Association

John Sievert of St. Ansgar High School is the recipient of the second Ed Thomas Mr. Football Award presented by the Iowa Newspaper Association. Sievert was presented the award Tuesday, May 8 during an awards ceremony at the school.

The Ed Thomas Mr. Football Award was created in 2010; it is presented annually, recognizing a high school football player who has demonstrated excellent performance on the football field and exemplary character in all aspects of life.

The award memorializes long-time Aplington-Parkersburg teacher and football coach Ed Thomas who was tragically killed in 2009. Thomas had coached more than three decades of Aplington-Parkersburg Falcon football and won two state titles and 292 games. He is credited with having coached four current NFL players, the most per capita of any high school in the nation. He was also instrumental in rallying the town of Parkersburg into rebuilding its football field after a devastating 2008 tornado.

Thomas stressed character above all else to his athletes and students and prioritized the three main areas of his life as faith, family and football. In fact, he was quoted as saying, “If all I have taught you is how to block and tackle, then I have failed you as a coach.”

Sievert, a senior with a 3.9 GPA, plans to study mechanical engineering after graduating. He is the son of Doug and Dawn Sievert of St. Ansgar. Throughout his high school career he has participated in football, track and basketball as well as FTC Robotics, German Club, Computer Club and the Physics Olympics. He has been selected a member of the National Honor Society. He is an active member of his church and has spent time volunteering for Meals on Wheels, Adopt A Highway and elementary mentoring.

In 2011, he was part of the Class 1A state championship team and received all-state defensive end and all-district defensive end honors.

Other candidates for the 2011 award were Barkley Hill, Cedar Falls; Wesley Burnside, Union; Dalton Ferch, West Marshall; Ben Knake, Lisbon and Nate Meier, Fremont-Mills. These five players, along with Sievert, were nominated by virtue of being captains of their respective classes through INA All-State football team selection voting. Nominees completed an application and took part in a face-to-face interview with members of the Iowa Newspaper Association’s All-State Committee.

Members of the INA’s All-State Committee met to select the award winner. Those on the selection committee were: Adam Wilson, Altoona Herald-Index; Beth Lutgen, Dyersville Commercial; Dan Voigt, Emmetsburg Democrat; Doug Rieder, Jefferson Herald; John Jensen, Grundy Center Register; Lori Wiser, Ocheyedan Press-Melvin News and Perry Bell, Pella Chronicle. Aaron Thomas and Todd Thomas, Ed Thomas’s sons, also served on the selection committee.

The Iowa Newspaper Association is a group of the 300-plus daily and weekly newspapers across the state, working together to make a positive difference and improve the quality of life in Iowa. Through the INA’s All-State program, Iowa sports writers annually choose the state’s best high school athletes to be members of the elite INA All-State teams in football, girls basketball, boys basketball and baseball.