OXNARD, Calif. — True Tigers will always bleed purple and gold.
 
They may now be wearing the Dallas Cowboys’ blue and silver, but linebacker Bradie James, defensive end Marcus Spears and safety Danny McCray still have LSU imprinted in their DNA.
 
“I’ll never forget it,” said James, who is currently in Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, Calif. “Every Saturday night we had a chance to win every game. There was nothing like it. The atmosphere was always electric. Some of the best times of my life were in Baton Rouge.”
 
James’ current playing field – the newly-built, billion-dollar Cowboys Stadium envisioned by owner Jerry Jones – has awed its spectators. But it’s still no Tiger Stadium for James, where the roaring crowd never subsided in numbers or pitch until the clock struck zero.
 
“It’s not even close,” James said. “Jerry’s World’s just big. We’ve got to go out there and win to make them cheer.”
 
James said Cowboys Stadium is as good as it gets in the NFL, but he distinctly remembers his favorite college stadium. He said his time in Baton Rouge prepared him for life in the NFL.
 
“Everybody loves Saturday night at Death Valley,” James said. “There’s still nothing like it.”
 
James remembers not only the experience, but also his former teammates. He said he keeps in touch with former Tigers he played with from 1999-2002, including former linebacker Trev Faulk, who he said is still one of his best friends. He also stayed close with former LSU defensive end Kenderick Allen and New York Giants cornerback Corey Webster.
 
The Cowboys linebacker is still involved with the Baton Rouge community and Tiger football. He said he tries to return as often as possible, usually two or three times a year.
 
“My wife is pregnant now, so hopefully I’ve done enough to get my kids to make sure they go to LSU,” James said.
 
Former LSU defensive end Spears agreed there’s something about Death Valley professional football can’t touch.
 
“It’s a different atmosphere,” Spears said. “I think college football is a little bit more wild than pros. It’s a lot more fanfare because you have 30,000 students on campus. It’s a little different, but I really have no qualms about playing in Jerry’s World.”
 
Spears, who finished his career at LSU in 2004, said he enjoyed joining a professional team with another Tiger.
 
“Bradie’s a great player,” Spears said. “I think everybody knows that and to have that familiarity when you come in, it’s an advantage to kind of get ahead.”
 
Former LSU safety McCray is fighting for a roster spot on the Cowboys, and he may have secured it with an unbelievable special teams performance against the San Diego Chargers in the preseason.
 
The stat book credited McCray with three special teams tackles, but he also recovered a fumble and drew a block in the back on a punt, pinning the Chargers inside their own 10-yard line. He previously recorded an interception in the Cowboys’ Hall of Fame game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
 
“All LSU guys always root for those guys, especially McCray,” James said. “He’s been doing really good on special teams. He’s been making plays, and that’s what you’ve got to do.”
 
McCray doesn’t forget about his past teammates either. He said after joining the Cowboys, he talked to former linebacker Perry Riley, and his former teammates at LSU are still “like one big family.”
 
The two other former Tigers on the Cowboys welcomed McCray with open arms when he came to Dallas. McCray said he knows LSU players will always stick together.
 
“When I got here, Bradie pulled me to the side, said he was going to let me take it in, see how much I picked up on my own, then he’d help me out from then on,” McCray said.
 
It wasn’t long before Spears followed suit.
 
“Everybody with that purple and gold blood kind of watches out for each other and tries to cheer those guys on when they’re making the league,” Spears said.
 
 
 
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]