The Bob Cover “Best Teammate” Award is presented each year in memory of Bobby Cecil Cover, a 1961 Gillett High School graduate who died in Vietnam on August 28, 1968.

Bob was born August 2, 1943, to Theodore Cecil and Johnetta Eason Cover. He was an All-District football player at Gillett, and was attending Arkansas A&M College in Monticello when he was drafted into the United States Army. Bob was married to Cheri Johnston of Pine Bluff.

Before the 1969 Coon Supper, Coach Dwight Fite, the Gillett football coach during that school year, approached the Cover family with the idea of honoring a football player in Bob’s memory. The award was to be decided by the team members themselves. The recipient did not have to be a senior. In fact, the first recipient was a junior.

The Cover family purchased the trophy, and the tradition began. The original trophy has been retired. A second trophy was purchased in 1984, a third in 1990, and then again in 2003, all now retired but on display each year at the annual Coon Supper. After the 2006 football season, Gillett High School would no longer have a football team, so the Farmers and Businessmen voted to discontinue the award. In 2024, there was much discussion to bring it back following the death of Bob’s brother, John Cover and the Best Teammate continues to be honored. A new trophy was purchased and remains on display for all DeWitt High School students to see, along with Bob’s American flag.