AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > April > 07
Monday, April 7, 2008
Will Perrilloux decision come back to haunt LSU?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Monday morning and I’m really confused. I really need you to help me out here. I need you to help me understand.
Ryan Perrilloux was the backup quarterback on LSU’s national championship team of 2007. If not for Perrilloux, the Tigers probably don’t get a chance to play for the title. He took over for the injured Matt Flynn in the SEC championship game and played really well in a 21-14 victory. Perrilloux is a good player. I get that.
In February Perrilloux was suspended from the team for the third time in eight months for violating team rules. As a result, he did not take part in spring practice at a time when he was supposed to assume the role of starting quarterback and, you would think, a team leader.
Miles has said that Perrilloux will rejoin the team after he fulfills certain obligations that have not been specified-at least publicly. After three suspensions I question the wisdom of letting Perrilloux come back to the team without missing at least one game (he did have to sit out the Alabama game last November after his second suspension). But hey, it’s Miles’ team. He makes the rules. I get that.
But here is the part I don’t understand. Today the LSU football team will visit the White House where they will be honored as college football’s national champions. It’s quite an honor and a once in a lifetime trip for the men on that team.
Ryan Perrilloux will make the trip.
I ask because I really want to know. On what level does that make sense? On what level is that fair to the other 84 guys on scholarship who managed NOT to get suspended and managed NOT to violate team rules?
Is there going to come a time when the players on the LSU team who are busting their butts to do the right thing are going to get tired of stuff like this?
If I’m an LSU football player, tell me why I have to attend every class, every meeting, and every practice in the spring while this guy has managed to skip ALL of spring practice and get a trip to the White House to boot?
Is this the kind of decision that could come back and bite Miles and the LSU team down the road?
Or could it be that we adults are too obsessed with this kind stuff? Could it be that the players are okay with this as long as Perrilloux is there and ready to go on Aug. 30 when the Tigers open with Appalachian State?
I’m just asking.
