BATON ROUGE — LSU junior quarterback Josh Booty will forgo his senior season with the Tigers and will enter the NFL Draft, he announced at a press conference on the LSU campus on Thursday.
Booty, a native of Shreveport, La., played just two seasons with the Tigers after spending five years playing professional baseball in the Florida Marlins’ organization.
“First of all, I would like to thank my coaches, my teammates, the LSU faculty and students and the LSU fans for making my experience at LSU a wonderful one,” Booty said. “I would like to give a special thanks to coach Saban for his leadership and to coach (Jimbo) Fisher for helping me develop into a quarterback that has a chance to play at the next level.
“This is one of the most difficult decisions that I’ve ever had to make because of the love that I have for LSU. But after much prayer and consultation, I feel it’s the right decision to make at this time.”
Booty was named first team all-Southeastern Conference this past season by the league’s coaches after helping the Tigers to an 8-4 overall mark and a second place finish in the SEC Western Division with a 5-3 record. Booty finished the 2000 season by completing 145 of 290 passes for 2,121 yards, 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He played in 11 of LSU’s 12 games, with 10 starts for the Tigers.
Perhaps Booty’s best game as a Tiger came in LSU’s 30-28 win over Alabama on Nov. 4 in Baton Rouge. In that game, Booty completed 18 of 31 passes for 275 yards and a school-record tying four touchdown passes. He didn’t throw an interception as he led the Tigers to 16 fourth-quarter points for the come-from-behind victory. For his efforts, he was named SEC Player of the Week.
As a sophomore in 1999, his first year with the Tigers, Booty started eight of 10 games and he completed 162 of 333 passes for 1,830 yards, seven touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
Booty’s 17 touchdown passes in 2000 rank fourth in school history, while his 2,121 yards ranked seventh at LSU. For his career, Booty threw for 24 TDs, seventh most at LSU, and his 3,951 passing yards rank sixth in school history.
Booty becomes the first LSU player to leave early for the NFL Draft since offensive guard Alan Faneca left following his junior season in 1997. Faneca went on to become a first round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers.