MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / August 14, 1999

BATON ROUGE – Rondell Mealey wants everybody to know that he is recovered from his off-season knee injury.

“I’m ready to play right now,” Mealey said at LSU’s Media Day Wednesday.

“Where’s a football at?” For the first time since he starred at Destrehan High School in 1994, Mealey goes into a season as the main man. Kevin Faulk, LSU’s all-timeleading rusher, is with the New England Patriots. Now, Mealey has beengiven the opportunity to show what he can do.

Mealey has had to persevere to get to this point, battling concussions as well injuries to his ankle, foot and knee. The knee injury caused him tomiss most of spring practice this year.

“I know I can get back to where I was with hard work and dedication” Mealey said of what he has learned with battling the injuries.

Mealey said he has been working over the summer to strengthen the knee and he passed his shuttle run Wednesday. As a precaution, LSU head coachGerry DiNardo said that Mealey will be held out of scrimmages this fall.

Mealey said that he is willing to go through the scrimmages but agrees with DiNardo’s decision.

“The position is important and thus he is important,” DiNardo said of the decision to hold him out, adding that it will also allow the coaches to see what the younger players like Josh Reed can do. “His attitude is nothingshort of excellent. We know what he can do and we felt it was a betterdecision not to (scrimmage him). And the other guys get more work.”An example of Mealey’s attitude and dedication is that even with the number of injuries he has suffered, he has yet to miss a game with the Tigers. After redshirting his freshman year, Mealey opened his career withthe Tigers with a bang, rushing for 161 yards in his first game against Houston. He was named to the Freshman All-SEC team after finishing theseason with 603 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The next season, Mealey carried 112 times for 664 yards and seven touchdowns. When Faulk went down early in the Tigers’ Independence Bowlgame against Notre Dame, Mealey showed what he could do, rushing for 222 yards and two touchdowns in being named the game’s offensive MVP.

Mealey was the Tigers’ second leading rusher last year, gaining 334 yards and scoring four touchdowns. His best game came against MississippiState when he rushed for 77 yards and caught an 8-yard touchdown pass.

“I’ve worked hard to get to this point,” Mealey said. “I’m feeling good forthe opportunity to be the starting running back. To go in there and do whatI have to do and not have to rotate.”Mealey has also been one of the spiritual leaders for a team that is trying to bounce back from a disappointing 4-7 season in 1998.

“I like to talk a lot and have fun,” Mealey said. “I like to get the guysready for practice. To show leadership and show them that we have towork hard to get back to where we want to be.”There have been some doubts as to whether Mealey can be a 20-carry back.

The Tigers are also planning to throw more this season than they have in recent years.

“I like to see it 35-40 times,” Mealey said. “We have to run some time soI’ll be ready for it.”Mealey said while the knee feels 100 percent, there is always that psychological doubt about whether it can hold up until the season starts.

But he is willing to do anything if it will help the Tigers get back to their successful ways, joking that he even would handle the punting chores.

“I want to do it all,” Mealey said. “I’ll work on anything, catching the ball,blocking, running the ball, anything to help the team. This is myopportunity and I’m ready.”

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