It was a cold January day in 1995 when Pete's Sports Bar and Grill, a popular burger-and-ball game joint on the main drag in Lafayette, La., was packed with people spilling out the door, with cars spilling over to the Chinese restaurant next door.
It wasn't for an NFL playoff game. It was for one kid, a talented high school senior running back named Kevin Faulk who was set to announce where he was going to college.
Faulk's announcement was being carried live across the state on television. It was a testament to how much passion there was for football in Louisiana, which was buzzing because there was a chance the state's best player might pick LSU instead of, like so many top Louisiana players before him, opting to leave for a more prominent national power.
It wasn't for an NFL playoff game. It was for one kid, a talented high school senior running back named Kevin Faulk who was set to announce where he was going to college.
Faulk's announcement was being carried live across the state on television. It was a testament to how much passion there was for football in Louisiana, which was buzzing because there was a chance the state's best player might pick LSU instead of, like so many top Louisiana players before him, opting to leave for a more prominent national power.
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Gary Laney
Gary Laney joined ESPN.com in 2012 after spending a year and a half as online sports editor of the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate. Before that, he covered LSU sports for the Advocate. He has also been the sports editor at the Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise and covered McNeese State athletics for the Lake Charles (La.) American Press. Laney currently lives in Baton Rouge. Email him at glaneyespn@gmail.com