Take one trip out to any high school in the middle of nowhere in “The Pelican State,” and you’ll understand why football is more than just a game around these parts.
Football is life in Louisiana, if not the entire South, so it’s clear why the majority of top recruits arise from below the Mason- Dixon line.
The sports-centric environment as a whole is a breeding ground for talent. There’s no denying it: Louisiana football players are developed by their surroundings.
Since 2006, LSU has recruited 108 players from Louisiana and 193 prospects from the South.
There’s a reason why such talent exists in the bayous.
I had the pleasure of covering a Friday-night spectacle in Loranger, a town roughly an hour outside of Baton Rouge, to watch the lightning-fast LSU 2013 recruit Jeryl Brazil display his talents between the lines.
Upon arrival in Loranger, one would immediately notice the lack of people parading the streets. Every townsperson was seemingly in one place, as they crowded around the high school football stadium.
The crowd stood huddled four rows deep, and that’s excluding the early arrivals who found seats in the stands. What followed was what can only be described as a light show followed by the blasting of hype music.
No one could convince me that there was somewhere better to be or anything better to do that night.
It was a metaphorical rock concert, and the people of Loranger were the screaming fans. If that’s not a reason for a young athlete to want to play football, then I’m not sure what is.
Football players are drawn to the hype, and the people of Louisiana know how to provide it.
Parents regularly take their children to Death Valley on Saturday nights in the fall, and the Purple and Gold begins running through young veins before they leave the stadium. What’s better than a roaring crowd of 93,000 people to motivate a child to one day strap on the pads?
People can’t get that kind of experience in the northern half of the country. It’s a Southern mentality.
The lack of other decent professional teams in Louisiana also plays into account. How many kids are honestly growing up wanting to play for the New Orleans Pelicans? Any Zephyrs hopefuls out there?
Kids grow up wanting to be a Tiger first and that’s how it’s probably going to be for a long, long time.
Lawrence Barreca is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Slidell.