Football teams always warm up before kickoffs, but LSU players may have to find time after the game to warm up their voices.
Since taking the job last spring, Coach Les Miles has expressed a desire to take part in a post-game celebration with LSU students.
“We’re going to anticipate, upon a successful completion of the game, to go over and sing the alma mater in the student section,” Miles said. “I don’t know it really well, but by the time Saturday gets here, I will.”
Players’ first reaction to the news was not very receptive, but they have come to appreciate the gesture over time.
“[Miles] said, ‘We’re going to do the alma mater,’ and everybody was like, ‘What?,'” said junior running back Justin Vincent. “I am actually excited about the celebration with the students. I want to see how it goes. This is the first time LSU has ever done anything like this, so I’m happy to be a part of it, but I’m still on the edge about not knowing what to expect.”
Miles has taken time out of meetings and practices to tutor the team on the words to the alma mater and bringing in band members to help players get the tune down.
“It’s something we’ve been working on and preparing for,” said senior offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth. “I’m not too sure how good we’ll be at it, but we got the words down at least. I’m not an American Idol contender, I’ll be humming along with everyone else.”
Players agreed that if anyone would be singing instead of humming it would be senior Skyler Green, who sings the majority of the time in the locker room.
“He is the best singer on the team. If he was in here, he would sing it for you along with some other stuff,” Vincent said. “I know it to a certain extent, but I’m not going to sing it for you.”
LSU students have started other traditions in years past. The student government sponsors the annual pajama pants party that falls on LSU’s first home game of the season.
Students also join together for an annual white out game, which involves students wearing a white shirt to signify LSU “whiting out” its opponent. The alma mater has been sung before and after the game for many years, but this season will mark the first time the football team will assist in the singing after the game.
“I think it’s neat to give the band something to enjoy and hang around for after the game,” Whitworth said. “It’s a way to give our thanks to the student section and being able to say that to them. It’s a good start to a good tradition.”
Contact Tabby Soignier at [email protected]