This week’s column is going to be a little different for me this week.

I want to take the time to say thank you to anyone and everyone who has ever helped me over the last 16 years. Yes, that is how long I have been doing this job in some capacity or another.

It was announced in Saturday’s issue I am the recipient of the Media Person of the Year award from the Southeast Texas Coaches Association.

When I got the news yesterday on Twitter I must admit I shrugged it off. The award is given each year, and this year it almost felt less of an award since former KFDM anchor Andrew Chernoff is in Kentucky. Let’s face it, the guy is a machine.

A few minutes after getting the tweet, I retweeted the news and put it on Facebook. That is when all the congratulations started to come in.

I also thought of who the award came from, coaches. The people I have worked so close with for 16 years.

I said in Saturday’s edition I do not do this job for awards and I meant it. When it comes time for different contests The News sends our work to, it is the worst time of year for me.

I don’t write a piece and automatically think, “Hey, that one could win an award.” There is nothing wrong with that type of thinking, but it just isn’t how my brain works.

I first took a general news reporting job here at The News in 2000. Not long after, I moved to The Orange Leader to write sports with sports editor and good friend Van Wade.

That is when everything changed for me. I started to realize how important of a job this is for one reason — the athletes.

The athletes I cover are the single most important people to my career. Oh, and the parents, grandparents and other family members who buy the papers when the athletes are mentioned are right there with them.

It matters to an athlete when they are featured the way we do at The News, and it was the same at The Leader.

So that is why I take this job as seriously as I do. I definitely don’t do it for the money, and the hours of 2 p.m. until about midnight certainly are not what I love.

The athletes and teams I cover are the reason why I have not updated my resume since about 2002.

So after reading all the congratulations on social media over the last few days I want to say thank you. Thank you to every one of you who have made a young kid’s dream come true.

Not many people know this, but when I was younger I would take former News sports editor Bob West and former sports writer Tom Halliburton’s stories in the paper and rewrite them. There was nothing they did wrong. I just wanted to see how I would spin the stories.

This really is my dream job, as simple and cheesy as that sounds. I am thankful for all the friends I have made over the last 16 years and I have been blessed to cover some great athletes.

Thank you to the readers from the bottom of my heart. Your support keeps me going on days when I think even for a minute I should find a job that makes better money and is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Here’s to another 16 years and maybe even more if I am lucky enough to continue living the dream.

Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe