Tyrann Mathieu: A Hall of Fame Journey
Honey Badger showed the way for anybody who wants to succeed
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When defensive back Tyrann Mathieu announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday, my first thought wasn’t about stats or accolades—it was about the Hall of Fame. Because his journey, on and off the field, screams Canton.
OK, we are told ONLY to consider what happened on the field for a Hall of Fame candidate. Mathieu’s accomplishments there more than qualify. But there is much more to this man, and he should be an example for others.
The man formerly known as Honey Badger didn’t just play football. Against all odds, he overwhelmed it. At only 5-9, 180, he overcame everything that should have stopped him.
We were first impressed with his candor at the Indianapolis Combine 2013, when he handled every question without flinching, even citing the exact date he last smoked marijuana. We provide the entire transcript from that interview at the bottom of this post.
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Mathieu’s X post:
As I hang up my cleats, I’m filled with gratitude as I close this chapter of my life and officially retire from the game that’s shaped me in every way.
From my first snap in college , to my final play in the NFL, this journey has been nothing short of a blessing. Football gave me purpose, discipline, and memories that will stay with me forever. But more than anything, it gave me a community.
To every coach who believed in me, every teammate who battled beside me, and every fan who showed up, cheered, and rode with me through the highs and lows, thank you. You gave me strength when I needed it most, and your love carried me farther than I ever imagined.
I hope I made you proud out there.
This isn’t goodbye—it’s just the next chapter
Much love, always.
Tyrann
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Born in New Orleans, Tyrann was abandoned by his parents at birth. His father, Darrin Hayes, was incarcerated for murder when Tyrann was just two years old. His mother left him with her parents and rarely returned. He was raised by his grandparents, then adopted by his uncle Tyrone and aunt Sheila after his grandfather passed.
He grew up in Central City, surrounded by chaos. He smoked synthetic marijuana to numb the pain—a drug that was rampant among college athletes at the time. He failed more than 10 drug tests at LSU and was dismissed from the team before the 2012 season.
But here’s what separates Mathieu: he didn’t spiral. He isolated himself in a Florida apartment, turned off his phone, and focused entirely on preparing for the NFL Draft. No handlers. No hype. Just discipline. Just a purpose.
He entered rehab with John Lucas. He leaned on Patrick Peterson, who preceded and mentored him at LSU and later helped bring him to Arizona. Even while interviewing for the draft, Mathieu told NFL teams the truth about his past. And then he showed them what redemption looks like.
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Drafted in the third round in 2013, his details
Born: May 13, 1992
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)Weight:190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school: St. Augustine (New Orleans, Louisiana)
College: LSU (2010–2011
NFL draft: 2013: 3rd round, 69th pick
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl champion (LIV)
3× First-team All-Pro (2015, 2019, 2020)
Second-team All-Pro (2019)]
3× Pro Bowl (2015, 2020, 2021)
NFL 2010s All-Decade Team
PFWA All-Rookie Team (2013)
Chuck Bednarik Award (2011)
SEC Defensive Player of the Year (2011)
Consensus All-American (2011)
First-team All-SEC (2011)
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles: 838; Sacks:11.0; Forced fumbles:7; Fumble recoveries:8; Pass deflections:100; Interceptions:36; Defensive touchdowns: 4>
(Stats at Pro Football Reference)
Mathieu’s NFL Career: A star for four teams
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I thought about Mathieu when writing about players like Marcus Peters—elite talent, dismissed from Washington in 2014. Peters, raised amidst gang life in Oakland, never came close to reaching his potential.
Tyrann did.
After being kicked out of LSU, Mathieu didn’t just return to football. He became its conscience. He gave back. He mentored. He led. He showed every young player that character isn’t fixed—it’s forged.
He is a Hall of Fame player, not just for what he did on the field, but for how he set an example for so many others to follow.
What others are saying about Mathieu:
Deion Sanders:
"Legend, it's more gas in that tank than it is on the NFL field! Wow. I'm so proud of u man. You did the doggone thang. Well done my brother well done! Love man,"
JJ Watt:
"Legend! Hell of a run brother. Hell of a run,"
Travis Kelce:
"Championship swagger dawg!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻 One of the greatest to lace em up! 🔥🔥🔥,"
Demario Davis:
"One of the greatest to ever do it! Grateful for all of our moments together!! Thank you, you truly blessed my life just being around you dawg! Keep going,"
Derek Carr:
"One of the greatest I've ever played against and with. Congrats on everything!"
Mickey Loomis (Saints GM):
"What a great career and (we) just wish him all the best. He's got a great message, he's very thoughtful, intelligent – super smart player – (he's) about all the right things on the football field and his experiences in life,"
And from the man himself:
"I want people who go through tough times... to know that they can still achieve their dream" — Tyrann Mathieu.
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Mathieue’s Transcript Highlights from 2013 Indianapolis Combine
What do you want teams to know:
"First of all, I want them to be able to trust me. I hold myself accountable for everything I've done and in this past year it's been tough. At the end of the day I want them to know that I'm a football player. I want to be a great teammate and I want to be the same leader on the field that I know I can be off the field.
Do you expect teams to trust you right now?
"I'm not totally asking them to trust me right now," he said. "What I have asked is for them to give me an opportunity to play
the game. I've had a lot of time to reflect on it, especially without football. It's really given me a different outlook on life
and it's just about being the right kind of person."
What have you learned by not having football in your life in the past year?
"A lot of things that I put before football really aren't fun anymore without football. Once I get football back in life I'm going to approach it a little bit different and it'll hopefully have a better outcome."
Are you more of a project since you've been out of football?
"Not at all. I think my football skills speak for itself. I don't think I lost a step. I'm not totally focused on football
right now. It's more about the person and getting those things I've done wrong corrected."
What steps have you taken to turn the corner?
"I've been to rehabs, I've been to counseling, I have a sponsor. I'm surrounded by people who do what I want to do and that's be a professional football player. I think the last few months have been going pretty good for me."
Have you gone through the interview process yet
"I met with a number of teams last night. Very informal. Starting Monday there will be more formal interviews
so I'm looking forward to that."
What kind of interview questions are you getting?
"They pretty much know everything. There's not too much about off the field, it's more about on the field and do I still have it and am I capable of being the big-time player that I was at LSU."
Who is in your support system?
"Patrick Peterson, Darelle Revis, Morris Claiborne, Corey Webster from the Giants. All those guys are pretty much my support system right now. I call those guys, talk to those guys on a daily basis. They dive me great advice."
Looking back is it easy to see how you kind of lost yourself?
"Definitely. I think half of it is you actually start believing the hype. You actually start believing the newspaper clippings and the other half is hey, I'm young and I want to have some fun. But at the end of the day I have to be a different kind of person."
Football side what are you looking to do?
"I just want to show everybody that I'm a true athlete. I think I'm going to run a pretty good 40, hopefully a 4.4 that's what I've been clocking recently. Really I just want to come out here and compete. I'm just happy to be back around football guys and the top guys in this class."
Concerns about your height?
"They can watch a whole lot of film on me. I make plays. Height has very little to do with it when you're playing the game of football."
Why are you better equipped now to deal with success than in the past
"Because I've been through it. I know what it's like not to have football. I know what it's like not to be the center of
attention and I know what it's like to be humiliated. To go back down that road, nah, not a chance in this world. Not a chance
in my lifetime again. Everyday it's a process. I'm not saying that I'm totally there but I am taking strides everyday to be
the best person that Tyrann can be.
Drug test at an early hour this week.
"Yeah, it happens to everybody.
What time was your drug test?
"I was woken up at 4 o'clock this morning and haven't been asleep since."
Last time you smoked?
"Oct. 26 2012"
Have you left your nickname behind also?
"I have but a lot of people haven't but that's okay. I'm Tyrann right now but if the Honey Badger sticks, it sticks. But right now I'm focused on being Tyrann Mathieu."
How will you avoid those temptations.Just not go to those places or what?
"It's tough because it's everywhere. At the end of the day I think I have something to look back on. I think I have some
experience that I have gathered over this past year that's going to help me. I definitely look back on my experience and
those certain situations. I look back on those to help me get further along."
Do you think you will stay clean?
"Absolutely. That's why I finished the rehab program, that's why I went to counseling that's why I have a sponsor to take it one day at a time. I know there's marijuana in the NFL. I know there's marijuana everywhere you go but at the end of the day none of those people are Tyrann Mathieu."
Plan to reach out to kids and spread your message and story?
"I'll reach out to kids but I don't want to be a hypocrite. I don't want to go in front of kids and tell them don't smoke because I've just crossed that bridge. It's about a whole lot of other things that you know I think I have intact."
Has Ed Reed reached out to you?
"No, he never talked to me personally but he's reached out to my adoptive parents. He's reached out to my agent and Patrick Peterson."
Who is your agent?
Pat Lawler
At what point did you hit rock bottom?
"I thought my bottom was when I got kicked out of school but I think when I got arrested in October that was a different bottom. So, I decided to go to a rehab. This time the rehab was for Tyrann. I just wasn't going to it for publicity or because my school told me to go. I actually wanted to get my problem corrected."
Have you thought about how much this whole thing has cost you?
"Yeah, millions. At the end of the day I'm not focused on money right now. I just want to start playing football again because
for my whole life I played it for free. To play now for a couple hundred thousand dollars, it's still football to me."
Would you understand if teams have taken you off or moved you around on their draft board?
"I respect it and I totally understand it but at the end of the day I want those guys to really look at me an see me for who I am and that' a football player and that's the right kind of person. I know I made some kinds of mistakes but I think at the end of the day I'm able to overcome the mistakes and be able to correct them on a daily basis."
What NFL players would you compare yourself too and who did you look up to growing up?
"I don't truly compare myself to any guys in the NFL right now. I think I have a different kind of game. But somewhere between Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu."
Why Ed Reed?
"He's a ball hawk"
Was there a driving force or person that got you to go to rehab?
"That was Tyrann. Tyrann needed to go."
Do you worry about teams thinking you're rusty becuause of the time away?
No, not at all because even when I wasn't playing this year I was trying to perfect my craft and trying
to be a better cover man and better technician."
Is it difficult doing that on your own?
"It's pretty difficult put at the end of the day it's still practice and it's still drill and it's still film work."
Do you have a relationship with the coaches over at LSU?
"Yeah, I have a good relationship with all the coaches at LSU from coach Miles to our head trainer. All of us have a pretty tight relationship."
When is the last time you talked to them?
I have a good relationship with everyone at LSU, Les Miles to Shelly head trainer.. not as of late..
Do you see self as safety?
"It doesn't matter. I started a game at safety and was the national defensive player of the week. I played nickel basically my whole career and I was the starting corner on the depth chart. It doesn't matter what position I play, I
can play all of them in the secondary.
-- Transcription courtesy of The Sports Xchange, PFWA.