I think the question was more about how it became a tradition in the first place. I thought it came about somewhere during the Billy Cannon days and might even have had something to do with that legendary punt return for a TD against Ole Miss. Any LSU historians out there who can clue us in?
There may not be a clear answer to this question. If somebody can cite to a research source with the correct answer, that would be great. Speculation and guesses are OK, but nothing beats a real source like a book or media guide. For me personally, it seems that the white jersey tradition is no more complicated than this: it's what we wore at home in the 1958 season, and we maintain this practice today as a salute to that great team. There may be no better definitive answer than this, unfortunately.
I'd actually like to see us phase out the white jerseys in favor of the purple at home, and white away. It really causes more trouble than it is worth with some people (Spurrier). Plus, I liked what I saw at the LaTech game.
I wish we would wear purple at home at least for 3 games. LSU Fans have got to be some of the most superstitious people walking the earth - maybe it's all the voodoo, beer and crawfish. Now that we have Saban and his "no distractions" approach can't the team wear purple more? The purple looks great and I wish we wore it more often. Just my opinion...
Back in the Sixties & Seventies the purple jerseys were considered bad luck... We only wore them once every 2-3 years on the road when the home team would wear white to force us to wear our "unlucky" purple... I remember a HORRIBLE loss to Miami (W/ All American Ted Hendricks) 30-0 in the Orange Bowl in 1968 while we were in purple... ...I ALWAYS loved the purple jerseys but never got to see them in TS when I grew up in BR and went to LSU... The white ones are still cool, but they are just like the Minnesota Vikings white jerseys (they copied us).... The design for the Cincinnati Bengals striped unis and helmets were originally designed for LSU... I used to work for a guy from Cincy whose family used to own part interest in the Bengals and he told me that story years ago... LSU rejected the design and it was offered to the Bengals...who accepted it... Can you imagine those unis/helmets in purple & gold????
