11/28/2023 football Edit

Malik Nabers chasing LSU history

Luke Hubbard • Death Valley Insider

Analyst

Malik Nabers came to LSU as a 17 year old, four-star freshman from Lafayette, Louisiana. When he arrived on campus in 2021, everyone knew he could be another great LSU wide receiver, but I don't know if anyone envisioned what he would become.

Since his arrival, Nabers has broken the record for the most receptions in program history with 186 and is 22 yards shy from breaking the program record for receiving yards in a career.

He's become one of the all-time great LSU players, not just receivers, players. It feels like just yesterday the four-star wideout took the field in Tiger Stadium for the first time, but somehow, he's already played his final game in Death Valley.

"It for sure was [an emotional day] for me, I'm not sure about everyone else, but it was an emotional game for me. I knew what I needed to come in here and do in my last game in Tiger Stadium. It was very emotional from when I came here as a 17 year old kid, it's been a dream come true for sure."

— Malik Nabers

While the goal was to break the receiving yards record in his final home game didn't come to fruition, Nabers broke another pretty prestigious record in the process. He became the all-time program leader in receptions against Texas A&M, a record that's stood for over 35 years.

"It means everything [to break the receptions record]. I never paid attention to the receptions, you know I was working on the receiving yards, but it's one record down, one more to chase, so I'm still going to break it."

— Malik Nabers

After finishing that quote with "I'm still going to break it," he was immediately asked if he's going to play in the Tigers bowl game, and he had a short and simple answer to that question.

"Yessir I will."

— Malik Nabers

Nabers looked like he was going to break the record when he broke off for a long touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the play was called back due to holding on fellow wideout, Kyren Lacy.

While Nabers could've been mad at Lacy for ruining his record breaking performance, he actually praised Lacy for blocking for him. He said it meant a lot that Lacy cared and tried to give him a solid downfield block to help him break the record, and it's all love for Lacy no matter what.

"You could see me, I was looking at Kyren [Lacy] block down the field and I felt like it was going to comeback when he pushed off. I looked at the ref and that's when he threw it and I kinda slowed down a little bit, but I knew I still had some more to go. I'm not mad at him for trying to get me to break the record. It shows how much he cares about me and how much he cares about my success. It's all love for him, I'm just glad that he was aware I wanted to break it."

— Malik Nabers

In an age where many players who are leaving for the professional ranks sit out of their bowl games, Malik Nabers is doing something not many first round prospects would do by participating in the Tigers postseason game.

Obviously, he has some pretty big incentive for playing in the game, but he was asked why breaking this record would mean so much to him, and this was his response:

"That record hasn't been broken in over 20 years. If other people had the opportunity, I feel like they'd want to do the same. I came here and played with a chip on my shoulder. Didn't care who we were playing, didn't care how manny games we had left, I never left my team out there to dry. This record, it's mine to break. God put me here for a reason and I'm happy he chose me to be in this opportunity to go break that record, so I'm going to do what he wants me to do."

— Malik Nabers

I don't know if his plan is to get 22 receiving yards then leave or if he plans on playing the entire game, but either way, Nabers is going to break the all-time receiving yards record barring some unforeseen incident.

Nabers will go down as one of, if not the greatest LSU receiver of all time, and that's saying a lot. There have been so many great receivers in this programs history, so to have his name in the history books with the likes of Ja'Mar Chase, Justin Jefferson, Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Josh Reed, Wendell Davis and so many others is an honor in and of itself.

Once Nabers breaks the record, we might not see another player come close to it anytime soon. The previous record has stood for over 20 years, so enjoy the moment when it comes and always be thankful for the greatness we're witnessing right now.