'He would have loved this': Family plants Tiger Stadium turf over LSU superfan's grave

BATON ROUGE - There was a mad dash for dirt Monday when LSU Athletics announced it was giving away sod from Death Valley after the Tigers' historic regular season wrapped up.

The hunks of turf were ripped up from the stadium to make room for offseason improvements after LSU hosted its final home game of the season Saturday. Instead of throwing the sod away, however, the school gave fans the opportunity to claim it as a unique piece of history.

It took only minutes for every strip of turf to be snatched up Monday afternoon.

Catherine Glueck was one of the lucky fans who snagged some for herself, but she had something special in mind for the bonafide Tiger Stadium grass.

"He's probably ecstatic right now. He would have loved this," Catherine said looking down at her father's grave.

Catherine knew she had to give the two squares of grass to her dad, an LSU superfan who passed away in 2015. Greg Glueck went to LSU games with his family as a kid. He was also a trainer for the LSU Wrestling team and often took his daughter, Catherine, to see the Tigers play.

"Going to the games with him was like going to the games with my best friend," she said. "We never left the game early. We stayed the entire time. We never let rain or anything get us in the way of going to the game."

To commemorate her father's love for everything LSU, she arranged to have the turf planted over his grave. Now, even her dad's passing won't get in the way of the father-daughter duo from bonding over the purple and gold.

"It is really special to have that on his grave. Every time I come out here now I'm going to remember that," Catherine said.

As the special sod settles in, Catherine says there's one more thing to take care of, and that's on Saturday, become SEC champions.

"He can't wait for the game on Saturday I know it," Catherine said. "He's up there with all the tiger fans watching down and hoping we win."

LSU's dream season continues when the Tigers take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship this weekend.