Albert Poree and his fiancee, Myla Reese, are one of six engaged couples participating in an Essence magazine contest.

Albert J. Poree used to compete on the football field at Georgia Tech. Now he's in competition for a sweetheart of a deal — the honeymoon of his fiancee's dreams.

Poree, Mgt 03, and Myla Reese are competing against five other couples for a chance to win a Caribbean cruise honeymoon from Essence magazine.

When Poree proposed to Reese he captured it on video. You can visit www.essence.com to view the video, as well as the video proposals of the five other couples, before voting for your favorite couple. TV viewers may tune in to "Will You Marry Me?" at 8 p.m. Feb. 3 on TV One to see Poree propose to his bride-to-be on the small screen. Voting runs through Feb. 13 and the winning couple will be announced on "Good Morning America" on Valentine's Day.

"We have truly been blessed," Poree said. "Everyone has been voting a million times each day. We have been honored and thrilled to have so many people from around the world support us throughout the entire process."

Poree and Reese both attended high school in New Orleans but first met at a dinner with mutual friends in July 2005. That August, they were reunited when Poree was forced to evacuate New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. He moved to Houston, where Reese was then attending Texas Southern University.

In his video proposal on the Essence magazine Web site, Poree said, "It was hard times after Hurricane Katrina, and we kind of leaned on each other for strength."

Both Poree and Reese now are back in New Orleans, where he is a lead auditor for Lockheed Martin and a defensive coordinator for the Sarah T. Reed High School football team. Reese is a program manager with Seedco Financial.