Cop Threatens to Arrest LSU Players for Smoking Victory Cigars in Superdome Locker Room
You can do what you want when you go undefeated
With a dominant performance against Clemson in the national championship game, LSU proved not only that it was the best college football team of 2019 but also one of the best of all time.
LSU lit up a previously dominant Clemson defense to the tune of 628 total yards and 42 points behind another legendary performance from Joe Burrow, who set the NCAA record for most touchdown passes in a season with 60.
When you’re that good, you can do whatever you want—including break some health codes.
Most LSU players aren’t old enough to drink, so a champagne celebration in the Superdome locker room was out of the question. They did, however, come prepared with victory cigars.
Here’s the thing, though. Smoking inside is technically illegal in Louisiana. According to AL.com’s Michael Casagrande, a cop walked into the locker room in the middle of the celebration and threatened to arrest anyone who didn’t extinguish their cigars.
Several players holding stogies laughed at the warning like it was a joke but the cop wasn’t smiling.
Another officer tried to tell them it was OK to celebrate with a smoke in the locker room but he insisted his commander told him it was a no-go.
Louisiana enacted a law in 2006 banning smoking in public spaces and the city of New Orleans passed its own ordinance in 2015. You won’t get hauled off to jail if you light up in a public place but you will get a ticket for up to $50. That’s no small sum when you’re playing football for free.
I appreciate that the second cop (who, since they were in New Orleans, is probably an LSU fan) was basically like, “Look, my boss is making me do this.” The photo in Casagrande’s story shows the hazy air in the locker room but it didn’t look like it was smoky enough to set off the fire alarm. As long as no one is complaining about the smoke making them sick, let the players celebrate. The feeling they’ll have in the morning when they wake up and can’t get the tobacco taste out of their mouth after brushing their teeth three or four times will be enough punishment for breaking the law.
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