Shortly after his move to Baton Rouge in 2005, LSU coach Les Miles made a trip to a local shipyard with an old, rusty, 25-pound chain link that was once part of a ship’s anchor.
He asked a worker for five more similar links, interlocked and mounted. He would later paint them purple and gold.
What he got in return was a 1,500-pound structure that has become a signature symbol of the LSU football team.
“He brought back those 90-pound links,” Miles said.
“Everybody signs that chain signifying everybody is all in. Since I’ve been here that’s kind of been Gang.”
“There’s a big chain in the team meeting room that everybody has to sign before the season, pretty much we’re ‘all in,'” said junior center P.J. Lonergan. “It’s a symbol of how we want our team to be. We’re all inter-connected, we all rely on each going.”
Senior quarterback Jarrett Lee, who was nominated twice as captain and emerged as a leader on the offense, reaffirmed Brockers’ notion.
“It takes all 11 guys on offense, defense and special teams to make that play,” Lee said. “So if one link goes out, that could be a bad deal. Everybody needs to be all it.”
From pump-up videos to T-shirts, the Chain Gang can be seen across campus, uniting the team on and off the field.
Junior wide receiver Russell Shepard said the tradition has become the team’s motto this year, and has brought the team closer together.
“If one link breaks, the whole chain breaks and that’s how we feel as a team,” Shepard said. “Everybody has to pull their own part and everybody has to be able to contribute. It’s not a one-man team, we need everybody to give that little bit in order to be successful. That’s what we stand