Tyrann Mathieu's story of redemption and achievement is one of the favorites among many sports fans, including Arizona Cardinals supporters who still cheer on the Honey Badger even though he now wears a different team's uniform.
On Friday, Mathieu, who was drafted by the Cardinals but now plays for the Houston Texans, took to Twitter to remind everyone who has suffered setbacks that giving up should never be an option.
"6 years ago, I was arrested, kick(ed) out of school, entered a rehab, got a call my best friend got murdered, stick dropped, most of the people I thought loved me turned they back on me, only a few cared. I’m here to tell you fall forward, never know what your future has in store," Mathieu wrote.
As of Friday afternoon, Mathieu's tweet has been retweeted over 25,000 times and has received over 100,000 likes.
6 years ago, I was arrested, kick out of school, entered a rehab, got a call my best friend got murdered, stick dropped, most of the people I thought loved me turned they back on me, only a few cared. I’m here to tell you fall forward, never know what your future has in store
— Tyrann Mathieu (@Mathieu_Era) October 19, 2018
The Honey Badger has already detailed some of the hardships he faced growing up in New Orleans. Writing for The Players' Tribune in April, Mathieu wrote about the horrors he saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"After Katrina hit, my family lost everything and we were forced to live in a shelter in Northern Louisiana for two weeks. The conditions there were terrible. I was just 13 at the time, but even all these years later there are still a lot of things ingrained in my mind from that experience," he wrote.
"We had to eat these beans that were as hard as bullets. I can still feel the crunch in my mouth when I think about it. I watched a baby fall off four bunk beds that were stacked on top of each other, crying the whole way down. There were all sorts of drugs, fights and destruction all around me. Just desperate, desperate people in a desperate situation."
Mathieu overcame all of those obstacles and went on to become an All-Pro selection with the Cardinals in 2015. And even after he was released in March by the team that drafted him, Mathieu is still making a difference in the Valley. Last month, he opened his first Tech Zone at the East Valley Boys and Girls Club, furthering his mission to improve the lives of underprivileged children in Arizona.
