Record 41 Tigers on NFL Opening-Day Rosters

BATON ROUGE — A record 41 former LSU football players will be on active NFL rosters when the 2009 season kicks off on Thursday night.

The 2009 NFL season starts on Thursday when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Tennessee Titans in a game that will feature two former LSU players ? Kevin Mawae, who is the starting center for the Titans and Ryan Clark, who is a starting safety for the Steelers.

In addition to the 41 Tigers on active NFL rosters, LSU has another four players on NFL practice squads and two players on the injured reserve. The total of 47 former Tigers on NFL rosters to start the season is the most in school history.

Twenty-five of the former Tigers are listed as starters for their NFL team, which includes a group of four starters for the Kansas City Chiefs (Glenn Dorsey, Tyson Jackson, Rudy Niswanger and Dwayne Bowe).

Nine members from last year’s LSU football team have made NFL rosters with five of those players being on the active squad. Those Tigers from last year’s LSU football team on active NFL rosters include: Tyson Jackson (Chiefs), Ricky Jean-Francois (49ers), Quinn Johnson (Packers), Herman Johnson (Cardinals), and Curtis Taylor (49ers).

Darry Beckwith (Chargers), Brett Helms (Texans), and Tremaine Johnson (Vikings) are on the practice squad, while Demetrius Byrd (Chargers) is on injured reserve.

Of the 41 former Tigers on active rosters, 22 played under current LSU coach Les Miles.

The following is a list of former LSU players who are currently in the NFL:

Name

Team

Pos.

Joseph Addai

Indianapolis Colts

Eric Alexander

New England Patriots

Darry Beckwith *
San Diego Chargers
LB

Dwayne Bowe
Kansas City Chiefs

Demetrius Byrd **
San Diego Chargers
WR