Football draft update
After seven LSU football players were selected in the NFL Draft on Saturday and Sunday – the most by any Southeastern Conference team, six more Tigers joined NFL rosters by signing free agent contracts Monday.
The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots picked up two key members of the LSU defense in linebacker Eric Alexander and defensive back Randall Gay.
Linebacker Adrian Mayes and tight end Eric Edwards both signed with the Arizona Cardinals, while safety Jack Hunt signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Offensive tackle Rodney Reed signed with the Atlanta Falcons.
Alexander finished fourth on the team with 65 total tackles on the season.
He also had five sacks along with two fumble recoveries, including one which went for a touchdown.
Gay, who began the season as a starter at cornerback before breaking his arm, came back midseason and registered 31 tackles, 13 pass breakups and two sacks.
Mayes, who moved from safety to linebacker at the beginning of the season and also was a standout on special teams, had 13 tackles on the year.
Hunt, a starter at safety, was third on the team with 73 tackles.
He also had four interceptions and two of those went for touchdowns.
Offensively, Eric Edwards caught 16 passes for LSU last season for 155 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Reed was a four-year starter on the offensive line at right tackle and was a 2003 National Scholar Athlete and First Team Academic All-American.
Former Tiger on steroids?
Former LSU baseball player Armando Rios is a part of the recent Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) steroids investigation involving San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds.
According to an ESPN.com article, Victor Conte, the owner of BALCO, released the names of 27 athletes, who had received tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), to the Internal Revenue Service on Sept. 3 during a search of the company.
The article did not report that the athletes have used the drug.
The use of steroids is prohibited in professional baseball.
Rios’ name was included among the list of baseball players along with Bonds, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi and Gary Sheffield.
Rios played at LSU from 1991-1993 and was a part of the 1991 and 1993 National Championships.
He played for the San Francisco Giants from 1998-2001 and was a teammate of Bonds.
Currently in the Florida Marlins’ minor league system, Rios also has been with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox organizations.