3 Saints the Cleveland Browns should watch out for in Week 16
2. Tyrann Matthieu, S
Tyrann Matthieu is known as the Honey Badger for good reason. At only 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, he’s really too small to be playing strong safety, but that’s where he will be on Saturday.
He will be tasked with gang-tackling Nick Chubb, and will also go up against athletic tight end David Njoku. Because of his speed, he can also keep up with the likes of Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Matthieu hits like a ton of bricks and is very quick; hence the nickname. He has had his ups and downs with his Honey Badger nickname and sometimes calls himself the Landlord. However, Honey Badger seems to stick with the press and fans. If Matthieu wants to be called something else we will call him “sir.” Whatever you want, sir. Tough dude, not to be messed with.
He has been selected to three Pro Bowls, and three Associated Press All-Pro teams and he also was selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2010’s All-Decade Team. He also has a Super Bowl ring from the Kansas City Chiefs.
He joined his hometown team, the New Orleans Saints, for the 2022 season. So far, it seems to be a perfect fit, except that the team isn’t winning. Part of the reason they are not winning, by the way, is that they have $43.3 million in “dead money” due to past excesses due to contracts that were based on the “play now, pay later” philosophy.
Well, later finally arrived in 2022, and the results showed up on the field. Browns fans, beware, this sort of thing will happen to us at some point in the not-so-distant future. Mathieu was one of the few free agents the team could sign.
His achievements are all the more amazing because he came from a difficult upbringing. His biological father has been incarcerated most of his life. Hence he wound up being adopted by relatives. He struggled with substance abuse issues which led to his being dismissed from LSU and caused him to drop to the third round of the NFL Draft. Somehow, against the odds, he turned his life around and channeled his aggression on the football field.
He has 28 interceptions and 680 tackles in his 10-year career. This season, he has two INTs, but 70 tackles, a very high number for a safety.