Countdown to kickoff: No. 39 Steve Ripple became part of family's LSU sports dynasty

Jul 26, 2023
39 Steve Ripple
LB, 1975-77
When Steve Ripple arrived at LSU in 1973 from Jesuit High School, he couldn’t have known his football career would be the start of a South Louisiana athletic dynasty.
Born in 1955, Ripple played linebacker for the Tigers, working his way up to being defensive team captain as a senior in 1977 on LSU’s 8-4 team that lost to Stanford 24-14 in the Sun Bowl. Ripple, who played with heart and passion that amplified his talent, won the Chancellor’s Award at LSU, the Butch Duhe Memorial Award and spent two years as student body president.
He married Jan Meador, whose father, Bob, was a three-sport LSU athlete in football, basketball and track and whose brother Rick would go down as one of the greatest Tiger swimmers ever. Jan would go on to be a world-class triathlete as the Ripples raised their athletically gifted children. Oldest daughter Shelly wound up in the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame, a seven-time NCAA swimming champion and 17-time All-American. Son Kyle was a two-sport athlete at Nicholls State and youngest daughter Kate played soccer for LSU.
Ripple probably became better known to generations of Baton Rougeans as a pediatric dentist. But his leadership and play on the field in the late 1970s was the start of something that left a big mark on the Louisiana sports scene.