TOP 10 LOST TIGERS (OR...THOSE WE TAKE FOR GRANTED) PT.I: EPISTLE FROM THE BUNKER

BY

LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

Over the years and through the Baton Rouge woods, many LSU Tigers have been forgotten by time or the weary wounds of a demanding, victory-hungry fanbase finding themselves often at odds with our deservedly defensive alumni, protective of their legacies as Tigers. In the heat of these Tiger on Tiger skirmishes, the emotions from such a passionate family can be too much to handle at times, though it never betrays the omnipresent love within.

We fight because we care...

If we didn't, we'd be A&M or Florida fans...if all we wanted from the entity known as LSU football was winning and winning alone, we'd be cutthroat, bandwagon 'Bama fans.

Instead, today is the day all of the world will see...today is the day everyone will remember how and exactly why LSU changed college football forever...many on this list of 10 random Tigers, assembled based upon their "slipping through the cracks", would easily be among the greatest talents in any other SEC school's history...and some of the guys on this list never reached their potential on campus...some weren't even close...

This fact alone speaks volumes about the separation LSU has gained from their ability to attract a bottomless amount of NFL-ready talent over the last thirty years, but more than the big names and high quality athletes, our coaches and support staff's excellence in fostering talented football players into becoming imperious young men is the key ingredient in this gumbo.

Under our last three coaches, Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Coach Ed Orgeron, we've won three championships, appeared in four title games, and laid the NFL under siege with our boys on every roster....what other school could boast that type of consistency?

For dealing with former Athletic Director Joe Alleva's madness, Coach Les Miles deserves a Pullitzer, an Oscar, and a Nobel Peace Prize for taking LSU to a National Championship game during the turbulent, frenetic era.

Maybe LSU will be remembered as the final college football team, fielding our greatest ever squad...wouldn't that be some heavy Michael Bay shit?

Anyway, despite the litany of hoarding zombies roaming the countrysides, surveying their wasteland atop the porches of toilet paper-wrapped dwellings, we delve into the Top 10 List to beat the living Spacey out of all Top 10 lists to crawl before us:

Either through the results of their own actions, falling through the cracks from no fault of their own, the public's post-2008 amnesia, or a mix of the above, these are our 10 most forgotten, lost, or taken for granted Tigers.

We'll kick the word miscellaneous in the ass repeatedly, like Jackie Chan circa '98 until it comes begging to us to be redefined.

Since the late 90s', LSU continues to produce far too much talent on a daily basis for any one fan to remember every guy...what we do right here takes some work, most of this coming straight from memory, back in a day when you sat back on the couch, gripped the seats in anticipation, frustration, or jumped joyously in orgasmic surrender after defeating Alabama...it was only a week ago for sports in general, two months and five days since LSU strode away on their steeds victorious after publicly crucifying Dabo Swinney...but it feels further away than ever before...yet so close????....which elicits the question:

How many incredible athletes and promising badasses have trekked through Louisiana State University?

Well, regardless of what you the reader may think of the following players' personalities, choices or career paths, may they be good, bad, great...even ugly...these are the ten, out of hundreds of elite LSU players who've walked on the field of Death Valley's brutal stage, and got away...forged in bone....and born in blood.

10.

JEFF WICKERSHAM: QB

Many believed Tommy Hodson's late 80s reign was indeed the first era of great LSU quarterbacks, however the reality is:

It was Jeff Wickersham who earlier ushered the Tigers' QB evolution as far back as 1983/1984.

Jeff took LSU to the top 20, upsetting highly ranked USC and Kentucky on national television in '84, before setting numerous benchmarks the following years in a fit of Mohican savagery..

During his time, Jeff became the first LSU QB to pass for 5,000 yards, the first to throw for 2,000+ in three different seasons, and the first to toss 2,500 in a campaign.

While there was no doubt he could sling it, the WickerMan's early 80s SEC-effigy revolutionized the stereotypical image of a Tigers quarterback, defying the supposed "hand off, then fuck off" characteristics of pre-80s LSU football.

“It was that family atmosphere that goes back to the early 1980s when I was being recruited by then-head coach Jerry Stovall, and still prevails today, that drew me to LSU from Merritt Island,” said Wickersham.

The WickerMan soon became the First Great LSU quarterback and first Baton Rouge passer to throw for 350+ yards in a single game when he aerially disgraced Mississippi State.

After the rampage of Burrow, Wickersham still stands at 3rd place for all time passing yards at LSU....and though his luster can only be found through the magic of those who were lucky to witness him in action, or uploaded on some banal necessity such as YouTube, the WickerMan stands tall as the John Stockton of LSU football.

#9 & 10 TOMORROW!!!!!

by

LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

GEAUX TIGERS

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