The LSU football team has a cornucopia of reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving week.
The Tigers are ranked No. 1 and are off to their best start since 1958, when LSU won the national championship.
But for members of a highly successful college football program, Thanksgiving traditions are often forced to take a backseat to the football team’s task at hand — winning games.
While many students at the University will travel home to visit with family and friends, the Tigers will have a walkthrough practice on Thanksgiving Day and face a pivotal showdown against No. 3 Arkansas the next day.
The Tigers won’t go without turkey and stuffing, though, as LSU will partake in a team dinner Thursday night.
“The fact that we get to have Thanksgiving dinner with each other, that’s kind of a little bit of a way to fill the void,” said senior cornerback Ron Brooks. “You can’t ever really get that family-type atmosphere unless you’re with your own family, but we try to do as much as we can being around all our brothers and our complete.”
Brockers said sacrificing holiday celebrations is just a product of any athlete’s lifestyle.
“In the NFL, they’ve got to play on Christmas sometimes,” he said. “Holidays are holidays, but it’s business Thanksgiving.”
 
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Contact Albert Burford at [email protected]