LSU RB Leonard Fournette stayed home despite violence, natural disaster

LSU tailback Leonard Fournette talked about growing up in New Orleans with ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski during a feature segment on ESPN’s College GameDay Saturday morning.

Fournette gave a tour of his neighborhood and pointed out where he started playing football. He recalled where one of his coaches was shot to death. The tailback had a troubled past filled with violence and loss.

Fournette was 10 years old when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, and he said he still remembers some of the images from the disaster vividly. Fournette described his family being trapped on a bridge for several days just to stay above the flooding that Katrina left in the city.

“Me and my family stepped out on the bridge, which is right here,” Fournette told Wojciechowski. “Four days and five nights where all the cars are passing right here, this is where you see the dead bodies, people getting shot in the head.”

Fournette said the disaster eventually brought the city of New Orleans closer together.

“Surviving, man,” Fournette said. “That’s when the whole city came together as a family doing as much as we can for each other.”

Despite all of that, Fournette still chose to stay at home and play for LSU coming out of high school.

Leonard Fournette stood tall after surviving Hurricane Katrina. Today, he's running away w/ the Heisman conversation http://t.co/xf4m1FrcDp

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 26, 2015