The third round of the 2013 NFL Draft seemed to be the most likely place for Tyrann Mathieu to go, and sure enough, the Arizona Cardinals called his name with the 69th overall selection.
Arizona became a popular team to land Mathieu as day two of the draft went on, mainly because of corner Patrick Peterson. He was Mathieu’s teammate at LSU, and at the time, took him under his wing. The Cardinals’ organization is hoping for the same thing to happen in the desert.
In addition to Peterson, the Cardinals will have two other great leaders for Mathieu to follow in Larry Fitzgerald and Bruce Arians. Both will be positive influences for the troubled corner.
People can talk about the risk of signing this guy, but the Cardinals are prepared to go about it the right way. They’re going to have ‘people’ surrounding Mathieu at nearly all times, and they’ll try to put him in a situation where he can just focus on football.
That’s all the Honey Badger says he wants these days. He says he’s over Mary Jane, and that football is number one in his life. I, as well as most fans, want to believe him, but he’s going to have to prove it at this point. He’s been given a big time second chance, one that could ultimately save his life. It will be very sad if he squanders the opportunity.
I don’t think he will. I think he’s committed to staying sober, and focusing on football. He’ll be joining a good Arizona defense, with a chance to contribute right away in the nickel, and in the return game. When you consider the leaders the Cardinals have in place, it’s tough to think of too many teams better suited to take a chance on the Honey Badger.
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