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NEW ORLEANS – Tiger fever has run rampant throughout Louisiana and the country as a whole since LSU overcame No. 3 Clemson Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship at the Mercedes Benz Superdome.

The win not only gave LSU its first national title since 2007, but also put a decisive end to Clemson’s two-season, 29-game winning streak. Tiger mascot memes and jokes have proliferated the Internet since the big game. Heisman winner Joe Burrow has propelled into the spotlight on a national scale, even leading some to urge his No. 9 jersey be retired to preserve history.

The LSU Tigers football team is made up of young men who have come together from their respective hometowns to make an unstoppable team. Several of these players hail from the River Parishes.

No. 4 John Emery Jr. is a freshman from St. Rose and a 2019 graduate of Destrehan High School. At DHS, he was considered one of the top-five running backs in the country. As a senior, he rushed for 1,693 yards and 26 touchdowns, leading the Wildcats to the 5A state semifinals. Emery saw some play time this season, rushing for 196 yards and four touchdowns on 39 carries. His longest run of season on 39-yard touchdown run against Arkansas.

No. 13 Jontre Kirklin is a junior from Lutcher and a 2017 graduate of Lutcher High School. In high school, he was a versatile player that became a dual-threat quarterback. Kirklin helped lead Lutcher to the 3A Championship under Coach Dwain Jenkins and finished his high school career with 147 touchdowns, over 7,500 yards passing and 3,000 rushing yards. During his LSU career, the wide receiver has played both sides of the ball. Kirklin has played in a total of 24 games with the Tigers, and he’s known as a shifty runner that makes defenders miss.

No. 97 Glen Logan is a junior from Kenner and a 2016 graduate of Destrehan High School. In high school, Logan was considered a top prospect in Louisiana. He has grown in his college career, starting in an impressive 22 LSU games. In 2018 the defensive end played in 13 games with 10 starts and he recorded 46 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks for 29 yards in losses. The following year, he became a key contributor on the defensive front and played in 11 games with 10 starts with 18 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

No. 2 Justin Jefferson is a junior from St. Rose and a 2017 graduate of Destrehan High School. Though he played well on both sides of the ball, Jefferson was not given high rankings in high school. He was not considered the best student and struggled with an English class that he needed to graduate. Jefferson powered through to get the job done, and he was recruited by LSU in 2017.

Jefferson comes from a family of athletes. Both of his older brothers Jordan and Rickey started for LSU. Jordan is now on the coaching staff at Colorado State, and Rickey is on the roster for the New Orleans Saints.

Since becoming a Tiger, this wide receiver’s best game was 14 catches for 227 yards and four touchdowns in LSU’s 63-28 win over Oklahoma in the CFP National Semifinal. He set CFP Semifinal game records for receptions (14), receiving yards (227), receiving yards in a half (186), and receiving touchdowns (four).

He teamed with quarterback Joe Burrow, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to become the first team in college football history with a 5,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season. He made history as he caught Joe Burrow’s 29th touchdown pass on the season for the most LSU history on an 18-yard TD in the third quarter at Mississippi State.

In 2019, he was one of 12 national semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, presented in recognition of an outstanding college football receiver. The list of accomplishments this young man has achieved, both on his own as with his team, is long and impressive, even more so with the challenges he faced and overcame to become a college player.

There is more to come for this player, as Jefferson declared this week for the NFL draft.