Tyrann Mathieu has come a long way from being kicked off LSU’s football team because of repetitive marijuana use and spending time in jail following a marijuana arrest. The Arizona Cardinals DB even admitted recently that he tried to commit suicide while he was in jail.
Mathieu caused a stir last month when he changed his Twitter bio to say “Ive tried to commit suicide but I didnt, look at me now.”
He elaborated on that personal revelation in an interview with FOX Sports Arizona’s Craig Moran Tuesday.
“I’m sitting in that jail cell thinking, ‘I don’t know if I want to go back out there and face the music,’ ” Mathieu said via FS Arizona. “I didn’t know how I was going to commit suicide in the cell, but that was the direction my life was heading.”
What’s surprising is that encouragement from others in jail helped rid him of the suicidal thoughts.
“Believe it or not, my cellmates were encouraging me, telling me I was a good football player; telling me I don’t need to be thinking about this,” Mathieu said. “That’s probably why I really didn’t do it, but there was an actual moment where I was thinking about, and I’ll never forget that feeling.”
Mathieu went on to turn things around. He began working out to prepare for an NFL career and was selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the draft last year. He was having an excellent rookie season until injuring his knee in December. He also says he now wants to start a foundation to help other people going through similar problems.
Everybody has gone tough dark moments in their life, so we definitely empathize with Mathieu and are happy he got past them. Hopefully he doesn’t let his surgery get him down so he’s able to return to full strength as a player. The NFL is more fun to watch when he’s playing.
