Father of LSU star Arden Key opens up on son’s off-season: ‘He lost himself’
By Cody McClure
Published:
LSU All-American pass rusher Arden Key strikes fear into his opponents.
No doubt, Mississippi State’s offensive line has been working all week to try to figure out how to block the Tigers’ prolific edge-rusher on Saturday.
Key makes his return for LSU after being cleared to play by doctors. He has been dealing with undisclosed personal issues while also recovering from shoulder surgery throughout the off-season and during the first two weeks of the 2017 season.
“A career that peaked last season with him setting the school’s single-season sack record is back on track,” The Advocate’s Ross Dellenger wrote.
Key’s father, Arden Key Sr., said his son’s rejuvenation should be attributed to God, and noted to The Advocate that he’s looking forward to a “rebirth.”
“It was time to take time away from football,” Key Sr. said. “He lost himself. He had so much success early. All the pressures of being a student athlete. We forget he’s still a kid trying to balance life out. It was all coming down on him.”
No one is willing to comment on the “personal issues” Key dealt with.
“Let the past be the past,” Key Sr. said. “All those rumors are going to surface through his career. As a family, we had challenges and we worked through them, and we’re still working through them.
“He’s changed tremendously,” he said. “He had to get his priorities together now. He sees life out of a different lens because he stepped away from football. He’s never been away form the game. By being away, he appreciates it even more.
“I never thought his football career was in jeopardy,” Key Sr. said, “But he needed to take time so it wouldn’t put his career in jeopardy.”
Cody McClure is an SEC Football Writer for Saturday Down South. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he also co-hosts a midday sports radio show for FOX Sports. Cody previously worked for Athlon Sports.
