DaytonDailyNews.com

In looking through the LSU game notes for the BCS championship game, there's a player worth discussing further.

Herman Johnson is a junior offensive tackle who is 6-foot-7 and weighs 351 pounds. But those numbers are about the seventh most interesting thing about him.

When Johnson was born, he was the largest baby ever produced in Louisiana, at 15 pounds, 14 ounces. Legend has it that the doctor told his mother in that Monroe, La., delivery room that the huge baby would eventually become an LSU football player.

The doctor, apparently, still calls his mother every year to alert her that the size record has not been broken.

LSU has already had Big Baby. Johnson is the Bigger Baby.

There's more.

When Johnson came to Baton Rouge, he suffered a spider bite during summer practices. It became infected and cost him his freshman season. After redshirting, he has started 21 games on the LSU offensive line.

They call him Big Herm.

Johnson's story is, of course, one you'll hear plenty leading up to the BCS championship game with Ohio State. I mean, how could you not want to talk about this?

He won't be the only one. With plenty of time until the game on Jan. 7, reporters will be searching for stories to share and anecdotes to re-tell. We'll hear more about Jim Tressel, Les Miles, Ryan Pretorius and Jacob Hester (a national champion in high school).

But here's my early vote that no one has a more interesting background and personal history than the Big Herm.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389

or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.