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Eric Reid criticizes LSU's swanky new locker rooms while players remain uncompensated

Cassandra Negley
·WNBA and women's college basketball reporter
FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2018, file photo, Carolina Panthers strong safety Eric Reid (25) knells along the sideline during the national aAnthem before the start of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Charlotte, N.C. Reid says he is “not surprised” he has been drug tested by the NFL six times in the past 11 weeks, his Panthers teammates and coaches are growing increasingly annoyed at the frequency of the league’s “random” policy. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn, File)

LSU revealed its swanky new locker rooms, complete with “sleeping pods,” on Sunday night and not everyone took the news as well as the current Tigers players.

LSU still has more reveals this week for its expensive renovation of its football facilities and former Tiger Eric Reid, currently with the Carolina Panthers, is already weighing in on how much money is in football programs while student-athletes remain uncompensated.

A look at LSU’s new locker rooms

LSU opened up its football facilities on Sunday night after a $28 million renovation 14 years after the building first opened. It’s an open format complete with sleeping pods for each player that feature iPod plug-ins for film and helmet plug-ins for the new technology.

The renovation was paid for by donations earmarked for it, including one from former Tigers star Tyrann Mathieu. The Kansas City Chiefs safety donated $1 million in 2016. There is a “Mathieu Players Lounge” named after him.

The other 96 percent was fellow private donations via the Tiger Athletic Foundation fund for LSU student-athletes.

Panthers’ Eric Reid takes issue with excess

The reaction to the locker rooms, only the first reveal of the new facility, wasn’t all good. Reid played at LSU under Les Miles from 2010 to 2012 and his father, Eric Reid Sr., was also a student-athlete at LSU. He was the first Tiger to win the NCAA Division I 110-meter hurdles title in 1987.

The younger Reid, an outspoken advocate, tweeted his take on the new locker rooms.

Reid made the point that college football is a money-making business given the amount spent on fancy new digs and if it’s making so much money, the players should be receiving some of it. The “how” of it all makes his argument fuzzy, but he shifted to focus on getting kids scholarships.

Reid: Get kids scholarships, not fancy ‘pods’

Donations, grants and certain types of state money are given to schools for certain reasons or categorical projects. At LSU, the money was given for the renovations and therefore can’t be given to scholarships, which would be more along what Reid wanted.

To the point that the swanky addition was paid for by Mathieu’s donation, Reid answered that it’s “interesting” how much easier it is to convince donors to give to a facility that doesn’t need work rather than scholarships. And when former LSU and NFL running back Justin Vincent gave background to the decision by LSU, Reid said it should be about need.

Reid was far from the only one associated with LSU to take issue with the fancy space. Students took issue with the team receiving so much while other programs have to beg. Another shared a photo of the library and asked why organizations such as the Tiger Athletic Foundation weren’t donating to academic pursuits.

And professors chimed in as well.

Locker rooms ‘why you come to LSU’

It is objectively correct that there are players more in need of a scholarship than a TV in their locker, as Reid said. And the library, which serves more students, may indeed be in worse shape than the previous locker rooms. But does LSU, and the donors who are flooding specifically the football program with cash, really care what players might “need more”?

The football Twitter account’s tweet, quoting a player in the video, said it all: “This is why you come to LSU.”

The clip shows players freaking out over the new digs, which is entirely the point. If you’re an 18-year-old kid with multiple offers, do you want to go to a school with drab old equipment or a program with sleeping pods?

And when it comes time for the best players to consider entering the NFL draft early, the Tigers now have a pull that Reid acknowledged many pro programs don’t have. Cornerback and SEC champion sprinter Kary Vincent made the point via LSU Sports’ official site.

“Everybody at LSU is staying all four years now! Maybe even five or six! Nobody’s leaving!”

The influx of cash to football programs from rich donors is far from an LSU problem. It’s system-wide, from high schools to college. Whether you view it as right or wrong, LSU wants to keep up with the big boys. From Clemson to even Northwestern, it’s an arms race of perks.

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