A few former LSU Tigers had a little extra fun after the New Orleans Saints’ 51-10 blowout of Clemson this weekend, and they made sure their Clemson-connected teammates felt it.
The current LSU stars couldn’t celebrate the rout in the same way, but plenty of former Tigers were enjoying every bit of it. Ex-LSU names like Justin Jefferson and Jamarcus Russell were on the sidelines, and several players were active on social media after the win. In New Orleans, though, the joke got a little more personal for a pair of Saints players who once wore Clemson colors.
Travis Etienne Jr., the former Clemson running back and Louisiana native, posted a photo to his Instagram story showing his locker covered in purple and gold streamers. The image also included a look at the game stats and pointed toward the likely people behind the prank. Etienne has a built-in edge in this matchup, too, after Clemson’s loss to LSU in the 2019 National Championship.
Bryan Bresee got the same treatment from his Saints teammates.
According to Luke Johnson, four former Tigers were part of the group involved, including New Orleans nutritionist and former cheerleader Jamie Meeks, who appeared to have a big hand in pulling it off. The other names listed were Barion Brown, Davon Godchaux and Will Clapp.
Brown was taken by the Saints in the sixth round of this past draft after one season at LSU. Injuries and offensive inconsistency limited what he could show in Baton Rouge last year, but he’s opened his pro career strongly with a productive training camp and preseason. He looks ready for a better run at the next level.
Godchaux has been in the league since the Dolphins selected him in the fifth round in 2017. He’s continued to be a reliable player and should have another major role for New Orleans, especially with Bresee out for the year because of injury. He also has a shot to move past 500 career tackles this season.
Clapp has moved into the next phase of his career and is now an offensive line coach. He had already been functioning mostly as a player-coach, so the Saints made it official and opened up a roster spot. During his playing days, he was a dependable backup across three teams and had two separate stints in New Orleans.
In Other News...
LSU Just Got Caught In College Footballs Eligibility Chaos
A Baton Rouge judge was weighing whether two former NFL players could suit up for LSU this fall, another sign of how unsettled college footballs eligibility rules have become. For the Tigers, it is part of a wider mess that now stretches well beyond campus and into courtrooms, where questions about who can play, when they can play and under what conditions are being argued almost as often as they are decided on the field.
Now the issue is heading to Washington, where Sen. Ted Cruz has been pushing the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act as a way to set federal standards for eligibility, NIL and transfers while giving the NCAA limited antitrust protection to enforce its rules. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill between Sept. 15 and 23, and LSU's latest brush with the chaos shows why college sports leaders are under growing pressure to find something more stable before every roster question turns into another legal fight. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Clemson Statement Just Sparked A Bigger Early Season Question
LSUs season-opening rout of Clemson did more than announce the Tigers as a team to watch, it also put several of its best players in the league spotlight. After the 51-10 win, three LSU players were recognized by the SEC, with Sam Leavitt earning Offensive Player of the Week honors, Jordan Seaton landing Lineman of the Week on offense and Jordan Ross taking home Defensive Lineman of the Week.
The awards only sharpen the early-season conversation around LSU, because a performance that dominant tends to raise the bar quickly. When three different players are honored after one game, it suggests the Tigers were not just sharp in one area, but carried the kind of balance and physical edge that can travel into the rest of September and beyond. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Big Spending Bet Already Looks A Lot More Dangerous
LSUs season-opening win did more than put an early mark in the standings. It also served as a reminder of just how aggressively the school has leaned into football as a business, with Lane Kiffin pointing to the money already committed in buyouts and NIL as part of a broader effort to build a roster that can win at the level LSU expects. The timing mattered, too, because a dominant debut tends to make every recruiting pitch a little sharper and every player meeting a little easier.
Kiffin framed the formula plainly: spend to create success, then let success help sustain the spending. LSUs football program brought in substantial revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, and university officials are also looking at ways to use media-rights money to keep strengthening the operation. The bigger question now is not whether the Tigers are willing to invest, but how far that investment can be pushed if the on-field results keep feeding the momentum around the program. [Read more 🡒]