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His passion is rooted in anger, in the fact that his own biological parents were never in his life. Even today, at 25, he struggles with this pit in his stomach. Gazing at his son, he ducks and shakes his head. waddles on down to jump from the stairs, throw a softball around and resemble a miniature honey badger in every way imaginable while Dad explains the birth of his signature style. "What's up, buddy? I'm downstairs! Come here!" How this whole Honey Badger thing started. To truly become the Honey Badger again, it hits Mathieu here, mid-haircut, he must remember how all of that passion and emotion fueled his game to begin with. It's no surprise he took a bridge deal, either. The Cardinals instead signed eternally fragile Sam Bradford to a one-year, $20 million deal negotiations fell flat with Mathieu, and Mathieu bounced to Houston on that one-year deal. "The only way you'll ever be considered the best ever is if you win a championship," he says. So, sure, Mathieu had decided he was willing to take a pay cut if it meant clearing room for Kirk Cousins or Nick Foles, because he truly believed the Cardinals were that close to a Super Bowl. How dominant Mathieu would be playing for him. Soon after the Cardinals hired Steve Wilks as their head coach, linebacker Luke Kuechly called Mathieu to tell him just how much he had loved Wilks in Carolina. And the interceptions are going to be great interceptions.īefore he was cut, he was sincerely jacked about the idea of being the tip of a spear in Arizona's defense. Those 80 tackles are going to be hell of a tackles. Even if I get 80 tackles, it's going to look good. Not only what they expect but what I expect. People are going to get what they expect. I'd rather get hurt making a Honey Badger-type of play, rather than get hurt trying not to get hurt. "I'd rather be a shooting star than a fading star," he says. "That's the mindset that I'm at right now." I'm about to go in here and do what I do," he says. "I have to get back to that mindset to where, Cool, I don't even care. So to hell with playing it safe and to hell with worrying about a contract. Otherwise, he admits, "I'm a pedestrian." After all, a player who's always been the smallest on every field needs that attitude. Be it in a sauna at a Life Time gym down the street or doing yoga here in his basement with an instructor, Mathieu will close his eyes and visualize helicoptering into quarterbacks, tattooing receivers, crossing his arms like a boss, playing with an unapologetic cockiness. This offseason, Mathieu embraced "self-reflecting" like never before. Mathieu says he effectively let those injuries "suffocate" the passion and emotion that made him the Honey Badger. "And think about how that can mess with somebody who plays the game the way I play the game," he says. Tearing both ACLs and suffering a shoulder subluxation poisoned his game with hesitancy. And Mathieu was, uh, more of a house cat for stretches last season. Don't give a damn if they're one-sixth the size of their prey. But real-life honey badgers are known for attacking any animal on earth-even lions. Fine, he played more snaps (1,261) than anyone in the NFL. OK, he didn't allow any touchdowns in 2017. So he doesn't hide from his performance last fall. I don't want anyone to believe in me more than me." "That's what I ultimately wanted for myself. Those guys hit rock bottom-Michael Jordan getting cut. Success was the only thing that could happen at that point. We know why Michael Jordan wanted the ball in his hand. But as we look back at his career, we know why he took so many shots. "Our failures define our successes," Mathieu says. That's the standard he believes he's held to. To more accurately put his predicament in perspective, Mathieu uses names like Jordan and Kobe and LeBron. So he can't compare himself to other defensive backs. It really annoys Mathieu that when his stat line is the same as Earl Thomas-say, four solo tackles-the narrative, he says, is Earl Thomas is flying around! But Tyrann? Tyrann didn't do anything. Honestly, using the names of NFL peers does not suffice. "How can he get back to the top of that mountain? People never do it. And this is my story: A guy goes from unknown to a Heisman Trophy finalist.
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I get into the NFL and I walk in a straight line…and get injured. "I get an opportunity to go to LSU and f-k it up. This year, the badger either lives on or dies. 7 necklace around his neck, Mathieu doesn't hide from the fact that his next season is make-or-break. And he's moved on too, signing to play with the Texans in 2018. Arizona decided the Honey Badger was finished. All the Cardinals decorations everywhere down here? Yeah, they won't be up for long.