More Than a Game: How LSU Football Shaped Dr. Seth Fruge’s Career in Medicine
December 19, 2025
Former LSU linebacker Seth Fruge has traded the roar of Tiger Stadium for the quiet, steady work of caring for patients across Louisiana.
After years on the field, he followed a calling to medicine—shaped by his time at LSU, his commitment to service, and his desire to give back to the communities that raised him. Fruge attended LSU from 2009 to 2013 and double-majored in biology and nutrition.
Now a plastic surgeon, Fruge shares how football prepared him for a life in medicine, why he chose to return to Louisiana, and what drives him as he builds a career centered on service.
Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
What motivated you to attend LSU and play football for the Tigers?
I’m from a small town in south Louisiana called Welsh, with a population of just under 3,000 people. I grew up always wanting to be a Tiger, and everyone around me supported LSU. I got offers from other schools to go on a full scholarship, but I chose to be a walk-on at LSU and worked my way up to a scholarship.
This really defined my career and took me through every stage of my life—being an underdog and working my way up to the top.
How did you balance biology and nutrition while being a student-athlete?
Time management was number one for me—finding any time to study and focus between practice, drills, or reviewing film. It’s all about prioritizing your time and giving 100% effort, whether that’s with school, during drills, or the game on Saturday.
What motivated you to pursue medicine?
After graduating from LSU, I went to medical school at LSU Health Shreveport, where I had two amazing mentors for plastic surgery at the Wall Center for Plastic Surgery. I knew there was no other path for me but plastic surgery. I saw how it changed people’s lives, the impact it had, and the joy it brought to people, and I knew that’s what I had to do.
I was lucky enough to be one of three people selected to go to the Harvard Plastic Surgery training program in Boston, where I spent the next six years training.
After this, I came back to Shreveport to join my amazing mentors, Dr. Simeon and Holly Wall, and give back to the community here in Shreveport.
How did you transition from athletics to medicine?
It was kind of a forced early entry. I was set up to go, but I was really planning on joining the Patriots as a free agent until I suffered a career-ending injury after Week 5. While I was always going to pursue a career in medicine because I knew it was my passion, it happened a little earlier than I had planned.
What is your favorite LSU memory?
It’s tough to have one favorite memory since there were so many, but two that really stick out to me: our undefeated 2011 regular season team and winning the SEC Championship in Georgia. That was amazing.
The second was probably the Auburn game during my senior season. I was leading in tackles, had a fumble recovery, ran a fake field goal, and I won Special Teams Player of the Week. That really stuck out to me because it was the last game before I blew my knee out.
Are there any similarities between playing in Tiger Stadium and doing surgery in an operating room, or OR?
Believe it or not, yes—and it’s part of the reason I went into surgery in general. You have a team around you, and everybody in the OR and on the field is just as important as the other person.
Your job as a captain and as a surgeon is to lead that team and ensure everybody knows they’re just as important as the person beside them. The ultimate outcome—whether it’s a win or a great outcome for a patient—depends on every person on that team.
What role did your LSU experience play in shaping your desire to serve your community?
When I was at LSU, I did volunteer work and worked at soup kitchens. When we went to play in bowl games, we would visit children’s hospitals in different locations. I remember seeing those kids and wanting to give back and help my community.
I knew it was a long road and a difficult road ahead, but I was going to do whatever it took to be able to come back and give to my community one day through medicine.
Why return home to Louisiana?
That’s an easy answer—it’s the best state in the country. It’s the best people, the best food, the best environment. And I can get back into Tiger Stadium when I get a weekend off.
After training at Harvard those six years, I loved it more than anything. The people up there are great, but it’s just not home for me. Coming back here and being able to serve the community—both in my private practice at the Wall Center in Shreveport and in the hospitals doing reconstructive surgery—makes me very excited to give back.
How does your background as a former LSU athlete inform your approach to patient care?
I would say I have a unique perspective and attention to detail, with relentless effort. I’m going to do everything I can to achieve each goal—a goal that I form with every patient based on their goals for surgery and their desired outcomes.
I’ll do everything within my ability to give them those results, and I feel like that’s unique to me.
What advice would you give to students who are seeking a career like yours?
Find an amazing mentor. Find somebody who’s really going to guide you—someone who has walked this path. There are a lot of wrong turns and very few right ones, so having somebody with experience who’s willing to help is key. That’s what I want to do.
It’s one way I want to give back, and I’m really looking forward to being able to guide students, student-athletes, and medical students in a career in plastic surgery or medicine in general. I would love to be a coach to these people and help guide them along that path.
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