BATON ROUGE — LSU football has been synonymous with Saturday night for several decades locally and nationally.
In recent years, LSU football is getting more and more synonymous with the NFL. An LSU record 47 players opened the 2009 football season on NFL rosters.
“The last few years we’ve flirted with having 40 in the NFL, but it’s never been this high,” LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette said.
It’s getting harder and harder to watch an NFL game and not see an LSU player.
“Whenever I turn on a game, it seems like there’s always a guy I played with or a guy that played at LSU before or after me out there playing,” said former LSU receiver Devery Henderson, who caught a 58-yard touchdown pass in the New Orleans Saints’ 45-27 victory over the Detroit Lions and former LSU offensive guard Stephen Peterman on Sunday.
“Whenever I see LSU guys, I’m rooting for them and looking for them,” said Henderson, a native of Opelousas who was a second-round pick of the Saints in 2004 after he played on LSU’s first national championship team in 45 years in 2003. Also with the Saints is defensive back Randall Gay, who was on the 2003 team.
“LSU has always been able to put out NFL players, and it’s usually been a solid competitor in the SEC,” Henderson said. “Then we got it all started in ’03. Ever since then, it’s kind of been a force. We’re always one of the top 10 teams every year. It’s always good to see players sent to the league and keep the trend going.”
Shreveport Times
9/17/09
Magnolia Tribune
