Fist bump. Blow it up. “Slap hands,” as Adam Sandler from “The Waterboy” would say.
Everyone has their own go-to move with a friend for a handshake.
The LSU football team probably just works on their handshakes a little more than most.
During pre-game warm-ups, many players can be seen doing elaborate handshake routines after completing drills to hype themselves up.
“It helps us get hyped,” said junior wide receiver Jarvis Landry. “It gets that game feeling running through our bodies.”
Watching senior fullbacks J.C. Copeland and Connor Neighbors’ raises questions about the two’s safety. A violent armbar is followed by some improvised dance moves.
“Our handshake, I mean it kinda hurts when we do it,” Neighbors said. “I don’t know if it hurts him or not though.”
The handshake might impress some, but not Landry.
“Man, all those dudes do is dance,” Landry said. “There isn’t anything unique about that.”
It seems players not only compete with each other in football skills, but also in their respective handshakes.
Sophomore cornerback Jalen Mills said his handshake with junior wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was the best, while junior defensive tackle Ego Ferguson said the defensive line definitely had the best handshake on the team.
Different players have
different styles and those styles manifest themselves in the way they design their handshakes.
“We wanted everyone to know that we’re all about power,” Neighbors said. “I don’t know how it came about, we just wanted something that wasn’t too flashy though because neither of us are flashy kinds of people.”
Two of the more powerful players on the team — junior defensive tackles Ferguson and Anthony Johnson — have somewhat of a different approach to their handshake.
“Odell and Jarvis have a pretty cool thing, but Freak and I have the this little 2 Live Crew thing we do that’s pretty special,” Ferguson said.
Positional groups don’t matter as much when creating handshakes for junior wide receiver Odell Beckham. Not only does Beckham have one with his running mate at wide receiver, Landry, but also with Mills from the defense.
Mills wasn’t sure of any other handshakes, but he was confident that he and Beckham have one of the most unique ones on the team.
“I actually think me and Odell have the best handshake,” Mills said. “Everybody else’s handshake is kind of old; Odell and I kind of created a new thing. I would say me and Odell’s is kind of a more finesse handshake. That’s the style we play so that’s the type [of] handshake we have.”
Another of Beckham’s handshakes perhaps has the most meaning behind it – his one with Landry.
The bond between the two wide receivers isn’t just on the field. Off the field, they are close friends and their handshake reflects that, Beckham said.
The handshake is a little more energy-based than anyone else’s on the team, according to Landry.
“The meaning behind our handshake, the symbolism, makes it special,” Beckham said. “It symbolizes our brotherhood and the bond we have together. It represents us as people, it’s really classy and simple.”

“The meaning behind our handshake, the symbolism, makes it special. It symbolizes our brotherhood and the bond we have together. It represents us as people, it’s really classy and simple.”