LOOK: LSU to honor legend Y.A. Tittle with incredible gesture at Death Valley
By Keith Farner
Published:
LSU legend Y.A. Tittle, who died Sunday, 16 days short of his 91st birthday, will be honored Saturday by the Tigers in the locker room during their game against Auburn.
Tittle passed away at a hospital in Palo Alto, California of natural causes. Tittle is a member of the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tittle was at LSU from 1944-47 and then played 17 years in professional football.
The display inside the locker room includes Tittle’s No. 25 jersey, pants, name plate and cleats.
Tittle made his final appearance at Tiger Stadium for LSU’s game against Mississippi State on Sept. 20, 2014, according to lsusports.net.
“The LSU family lost one of the all-time greats this weekend in Y.A. Tittle,” said LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva. “Our thoughts are with his daughter Dianne and his extended family and friends as we join them in celebrating the life of a great man and one of the most decorated Tigers to ever play the game.”
LSU football coach Ed Orgeron also discussed Tittle at his weekly press conference.
“First of all, I’d like to send our thoughts and prayers to the family of Y.A. Tittle, great player, even better man who was loved by LSU,” he said. “LSU Hall of Fame, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of the toughest guys to play the quarterback position. He’ll be sorely missed.”
Tittle left with five LSU records: passing yards in a career, 2,517; completed passes in a career, 166; touchdown passes in a career, 21; total offense in a career, 2,619; and touchdown passes in a season, 11 (1946).
Tittle would become the only player in history to be drafted in the first round on three occasions. The first two times came in 1948, when the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference took him, as did the Detroit Lions of the NFL.
We remember #LSU legend Y.A. Tittle with a special locker inside Tiger Stadium. Tittle passed away Sunday evening. https://t.co/fsJ3wt11gs pic.twitter.com/C48Vuv72ER
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) October 13, 2017
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
