LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy loves to celebrate big plays by pretending to tote and/or shoot a gun. He continues to do so at every opportunity despite an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that got him a stern talking to from head coach Brian Kelly during the first college football game of the year.
Now, to be completely fair to to the fifth-year senior, this celebration is not specific to Lacy nor football and the Tigers (especially their pass-catchers) have been on this trend for a few years now.
The context is important but it doesn’t change the optics. Some people are going to point to the gesture as a problematic and Cam Newton is actually one of those people. He called Lacy “corny” and “stupid” after the wide receiver was flagged for his behavior during a season-opening loss to (the real) USC because “if you were in college, you ain’t a thug.”
All of the outside criticism does not seem to matter to LSU!
These kinds of celebrations are a recurring theme within the program over the last few years. They ‘got the gat’ all throughout their national championship run in 2021, including at the White House. (A “gat” is slang for gun, for all the whytes who may not be aware.)
Lacy unloaded his imaginary clip after most of his touchdowns last season.
As did Malik Nabers.
And to reiterate, they were not alone. Tee Higgins and Jordan Addison did it in the same NFL game, as just two of many examples.
However, with that in mind, Kyren Lacy received a strong reprimand from Kelly for doing the celebration at a defensive back during Week 1. One might think that he would retire from fake gun shooting after getting chewed out but that was not the case on Saturday.
Kyren Lacy is a menace!
The Bayou Bengals’ top offensive weapon scored a touchdown on South Carolina (the fake USC) just before halftime. He walked right over to the camera and aimed his signature celebration right at the viewers at home.
— wow that was crazy (@CowardlyDoggo) September 14, 2024
Regardless of how you feel toward Lacy’s antics, it does not appear as though he is ever going to stop. While that is obviously his prerogative, the future NFL star may want be more careful to avoid any additional penalties. Especially now that officials are hyper-focused on his shenanigans.