The 2011 football season almost became as much about who didn’t take the field for the Tigers as who actually suited up.
While senior quarterback Jordan Jefferson’s suspension grabbed the majority of national headlines, seven different players were suspended for at least one game during the season.
The problems began Aug. 19, when Jefferson and a number of other players were involved in an altercation outside Shady’s Bar.
After Baton Rouge police conducted a search warrant in which they took 49 pairs of Jefferson’s shoes, police charged Jefferson and sophomore linebacker Josh Johns with second-degree battery. The two players turned themselves in on Aug. 26, and LSU coach Les Miles suspended them indefinitely that day.
Following an investigation, a grand jury convened Sept. 28 and reduced Jefferson’s charges from second-degree battery to first-degree battery, a misdemeanor, while dismissing all charges facing Johns.
Miles reinstated Jefferson and Johns immediately, and Jefferson returned to the field in LSU’s next game Oct. 1 against Kentucky. He continued to share time with senior quarterback Jarrett Lee, who replaced Jefferson as the starting quarterback during his suspension. Jefferson didn’t receive the majority of snaps until LSU’s Nov. 5 matchup with No. 2 Alabama.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to be back,” Jefferson said after his reinstatement. “It was a tough situation for me and definitely a learning experience. I can’t imagine anybody else in the country has gone through what I went through, but everything happens for a better.”
LSU grabbed national headlines again when three players were suspended before LSU’s Oct. 22 matchup with Auburn. Sophomore cornerbacks Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon and sophomore running back Spencer Ware were reportedly withheld from play after failing a drug test for synthetic marijuana.
The trio returned two weeks later for the “Game of the Century” against Alabama.
“You have to grow up fast in this business,” Mathieu said. “You have to put a lot of things aside. You’re going to make mistakes. It’s really about you putting that to the side and moving forward to the