Bad News For Jefferson, Shepard At LSU (Updated)

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LSU fans are dealing with some more bad news this evening… on two different fronts.

First, an eyewitness has told police that she saw LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson kick someone in the face during last Friday morning’s bar fight in Baton Rouge.

The 19-year-old woman told police that she also saw linebacker Josh Johns attack the man who was kicked by Jefferson.  Jefferson, Johns, and teammates Chris Davenport and Jarvis Landry were questioned by police on Wednesday.  Last night, police searched Jefferson’s apartment and left with 49 pairs of tennis shoes and a DNA swab from the quarterback’s mouth.

Police have said they expect to make arrests in the case when they complete their investigation.

LSU opens the season next Saturday against #3 Oregon. 

While the Tigers might not have the four players listed above, they’ll definitely be without wide receiver Russell Shepard.

Shepard’s eligibility has been in question for more than a month.  LSU and NCAA officials have been looking into his living arrangements.  But that investigation is not why he’ll miss next week’s game.

Glenn Guilbeau of The Shreveport Times explains:


“Shepard has been declared ineligible for violating NCAA rules because he discussed an upcoming NCAA inquiry with a teammate who was scheduled to be interviewed by an NCAA official, LSU associate athletic director Herb Vincent said.

The NCAA inquiry Vincent mentioned may refer to the NCAA official visiting the LSU campus in July to interview LSU coach Les Miles and members of his staff about their contacts with Houston-based high school football scout and recruiting service owner Willie Lyles, who has been the subject of NCAA investigations concerning Oregon and LSU.”


How appropriate that Lyles might be involved in this.  Think the folks televising the Tigers-Ducks game will have enough time to cover all of the issues, investigations, scandals, and suspensions facing LSU and Oregon in one pregame show?  They might need an extra 30 minutes of programming to report on all this nonsense.

LSU, meanwhile, will attempt to get Shepard reinstated, but Vincent said, “He is expected to miss a number of games until the reinstatement can be considered by the NCAA.”

Shepard was expected to be one LSU’s top offensive weapons this fall.


UPDATE – I don’t know that this should be considered good news, because a fight’s a fight and kicking someone in the head is still kicking someone in the head (if that actually happened), but two employees of Shady’s Bar in Baton Rouge say that one of the victims in last week’s brawl actually “threw the first punch” shortly after he’d been escorted outside the bar by staff.  According to these new witnesses, Andrew Lowery — also known as “the kicked in the head Marine” — was asked to leave the bar when he appeared to be harassing a young woman.  Within minutes of leaving the bar, he was in the middle of melee.