Dedicated LSU fans have spent long hours standing in line just to get a glimpse of the 37 pound, 34 inch ADT National Championship Trophy.
The ADT Trophy is valued at $30,000. Each year an artisan at Waterford Crystal in Ireland spends three months handcrafting the seven pound football that sits atop the trophy, according to ADT fact sheet.
ADT and Home Depot are hosting free public displays of the trophy in Louisiana, said ADT Marketer Karen Carney.
The ADT Trophy has made local public appearances at LSU basketball games and Home Depot stores in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, giving Tiger fans the opportunity to photograph and admire it up-close, Carney said.
Ray Mallouk, trophy tour manager, said an estimated 2,400 people came to view and photograph the trophy Jan. 11 at the Home Depot on Highland Road.
All fans who attended the Home Depot displays received a free Polaroid photograph of themselves with the trophy, courtesy of ADT. Fans also were given the opportunity to take their own photos, Mallouk said.
Some people arrived two hours before the 8 a.m. appearance at Highland Road Home Depot began.
Mallouk said there were between 1,000 and 1,500 people in line to see the trophy at the PMAC for both the men’s and women’s basketball games.
Fans who stood two hours in line for a few seconds with the trophy said it was well worth it, Mallouk said.
“Everyone wants to touch or kiss it,” Mallouk said. But only the coach, staff and players are allowed to touch it.
The trophy is protected by a global position system glass, which can detect the position of the trophy at all times, Mallouk said.
Mallouk said problems with the security of the trophy did not arise.
“Fans are usually very respectful,” he said.
The ADT National Championship trophy traveled approximately 25,000 miles during the football season. It made appearances on the the sidelines of premier games including two at the University of Oklahoma and one LSU game, when the Tigers defeated Auburn Oct. 25, according to an ADT fact sheet.
The trophy currently is in the Bill Lawton Squad Room, the place where the football team meets, which is locked if the team is not using it, said Athletics Director Skip Bertman.
The University has ordered a replica from the same company that produced the original.
It is supposed to be identical to the original except “the University has to pay for this one,” Bertman said.
The original is expected to be in a new football complex that is being built. The replica will be displayed at Jack Andonie Hall, the new athletic museum under construction.
The 1958 National Championship Trophy may be located next to the replica in Jack Andonie Hall, but Bertman said the 1958 trophy might be redone since the trophies would look out of place next to each other.
“It’s very inexpensive and not as nice [as the new trophy],” Bertman said.
Bertman said for the coach and the team the trophy represents “hard work and the correct blending of human forces.”
Mallouk said he does not believe that any other sports trophy besides the Stanley Cup is met with this much enthusiasm.