Honey of a Comeback

By Jim Gazzolo

The Honey Badger may be retiring, but his legend in Louisiana will live on.

Tyrann Mathieu, a.k.a. The Honey Badger, officially retired from football Tuesday as a member of the New Orleans Saints.

A Super Bowl champ with the Kansas City Chiefs and national title winner while playing at LSU, Mathieu will long be remembered for his play, flair, and passion for the game of football.

However, his legacy is far more than that.

The undersized safety burst onto the college football scene for his punt return abilities as well as for how he played defense for the Tigers. He became the face of college football for a brief period and was a star who shone brightly during his time in Baton Rouge.

He then became a tragic figure when he was kicked off the LSU team for breaking team rules. It was reported that he failed drug tests, and for a short time, he was known as a tale of what might have been.

But Mathieu wasn’t willing to fail. He picked himself up, got the help he needed to become clean, turning a tragic story into an uplifting tale in the matter of a few years.

And we know how much America loves a comeback.

Ironically, the turning point in both his life and career may have occurred in Lake Charles, a fact that few people are aware of. 

After being kicked off the LSU team just days before the 2012 season was to start, Mathieu went searching for a new football home. Somebody suggested McNeese as a perfect landing place for the All-American.

So, the Honey Badger drove over to Lake Charles on a Friday night and checked out the Cowboys. He liked what he saw and was ready to sign.

Matt Viator, the head coach then, who will make his return to the McNeese sidelines this fall after a nine-season absence, wanted to make sure Mathieu wasn’t rushing into anything too quickly.

“Things were moving very fast, and I wanted him to be sure about what the right move for him was next,” Viator said at the time.

So instead of rushing to sign Mathieu, Viator sent him back home to New Orleans for the weekend. After talking to his family, the Honey Badger decided not to get right back on the horse, but instead to go to rehab and get himself right.

That spring, after returning to LSU as just a student and sitting out the football season, he was drafted in the third round, and the rest is history. 

With that move, Mathieu flipped himself from just another troubled athlete into a great success story that others can follow for years to come.

He became more than a football player; he became a role model others could follow. Mathieu

gave us all a lesson in second chances, in overcoming obstacles, and making the most out of tough situations.

While many will remember him for his play, for his style, and maybe even that blonde hair he had as a Tiger, I will always think of how he came back from his issues and turned what could have been wasted talent into a teaching career to follow.

He proved that football was just a part of his story.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers sports in Southwest Louisiana. He is also the host of Poke Nation, which airs weekly on CBS-Lake Charles.