Arizona Cardinals’ safety Tyrann Mathieu has had himself a tough road to the NFL and now he faces another challenge after suffering a torn ACL and LCL in 2013. Mathieu spoke to Fox Sports about his tough times including his time in jail in October 2012.
Mathieu opened up about the possibly the worst time in his life when he was sentenced to jail time in Louisiana.
"I'm sitting in that jail cell thinking, 'I don't know if I want to go back out there and face the music,'" he said. "I didn't know how I was going to commit suicide in the cell, but that was the direction my life was heading.”
Mathieu said his cellmate talked him out of suicide by assuring him that he has a life outside of jail and that he could make it in football. Mathieu credited the man with saving his life and for a time his Twitter profile was "I've tried committing suicide. But I didn't, look at me now."
"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 said.
Mathieu’ s path to redemption came full circle in 2013 as he played very well before his season was cut short by the knee injury. Mathieu is expected to be ready for the start of the 2014 season, but that hasn't stopped him from spreading his story and sending the message that life gets better when you put your mind to it.
"I think the biggest thing is to be open about it," he said. "Part of it is reaching out to others trying to help; part of it is self-counseling, talking about it, not shying away from it. Most people try to isolate themselves and pretend like things are all good when a lot of times, that's not how it is.”
The Cardinals selected Mathieu with the 69th overall pick in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft and Patrick Peterson has been his mentor ever since he entered the league.
[ESPN]
Give us a shoutout in the comments below and follow us @SportsWN and @Edler56
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
