This past Wednesday should have seen the close of what has been a dark public relations storm at LSU.
But after a brief respite, LSU football coach Les Miles summoned the clouds back to Baton Rouge on Saturday.
After the now-infamous Shady’s altercation, LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson and linebacker Josh Johns, both of whom where charged with felonies, went before a grand jury Wednesday and testified about the fateful night. Jefferson left the courthouse with a reduced charge of simple battery, and Johns had his charges dropped completely.
Both rejoined the football team immediately, as they should have. Each served his suspension. Each had to watch as his teammates stormed to a 4-0 record, a No. 1 ranking and the best month of football the school has seen since 2007.
Their punishment was more than enough for a bar fight. No gripes there.
But when Miles decided to insert Jefferson into the lineup on the Tigers’ second drive of the game, he brought attention back to the murky waters Baton Rouge waded through in early September.
Met with a mix of boos and cheers, Jefferson pushed into the end zone for LSU’s first touchdown.
It was a strange moment. Some of the boos were probably directed at Jefferson, and others at Miles for putting Jefferson in the game so soon.
After the game, many players took to Twitter to voice their displeasure with the boos. Offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert went so far as to tell the dissatisfied fans that “we don’t need you and don’t want