Jefferson was suspended because of his alleged involvement in a bar fight in late August.
He was initially arrested on a charge of second-degree battery and suspended a little more than a week before the season was set to begin.
He was reinstated four games into the season when a grand jury reduced the charge to a misdemeanor, and took back over as starter in the 10th game.
Which began another controversy - why bench Jarret Lee after leading the Tigers to an undefeated season to that point?
Yes, the Tigers did win the rest of the games including a remarkable recovery in the SEC championship game over Georgia.
But during the 21-0 loss to Alabama, Jefferson played his worst in his final game in an LSU uniform.
Jefferson finished 11 of 17 for 53 yards and an interception.
LSU managed only five first downs and were outgained 384-92.
LSU never crossed the 50 yardline until the fourth quarter, and they did it only once.
One of every four offensive plays the Tigers ran went for negative yards.
And Lee did not play one single down against the Tide.
But I guess for his sake, that was better than the token kneel down to finish the SEC championship game.
Could Lee have done better against that vaunted Tide defense? We will never know now, but Tigers fans sure wanted Les Miles to give Lee a chance.
While LSU fans are understandably upset over losing in the championship, what occurred after should have never happened.
According to WDSU’s web site, Jefferson became the target of outrageous venom on Twitter that included death threats and racial slurs sent to his page.
What a shame.
But Tiger fans have made threats before.
When LSU traveled to Auburn in 1994, the Bengal Tigers led 23-9 entering the fourth quarter.
LSU quarterback Jamie Howard threw five fourth- quarter interceptions - three returned for touchdowns - as Auburn extended their winning streak to 15 games with a 30-26 win and Howard received death threats after the loss.
LSU had one of their greatest seasons ever, knocking off eight ranked opponents, three of them top-10 teams, including at second-ranked Alabama.
But they will also be remembered for their BCS loss.
Yes, I think Lee should have been put in after halftime as LSU trailed 9-0.
Lee has not had tremendous success against Alabama in his career, but he did take the Tigers to an 8-0 start before he walked off the field in Tuscaloosa after throwing two interceptions.
But we all watched Miles continue to use Jefferson as the title slipped away one play at a time.
Rumors and talk continues about what Lee must have done to be relegated to the sidelines or why the coach continued to stand by his man.
But one thing is for sure - Jefferson did not deserve the slurs or threats made against him.
This was just a game.
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