Motivational Story - Tyrann Mathieu (Kansas City Chiefs / NFL)

 

Greetings! For this piece, I want to bring you a story of Hope. We all need that four letter word in today’s unsettled world. This one doesn’t start off too well but shows what you can do when you truly focus on yourself and not let anyone clutter up your mind?

This is about an athlete who once was the talk of college football. Considered the most dangerous player on the field no matter the position! A player that got so big, so fast, he once proclaimed himself to be "the President of Baton Rouge, Louisiana!” 

Meet Tyrann Mathieu, a player chosen as the Best Defensive Back in his sport and a Heisman Trophy Finalist – all as a Sophomore back in 2011 at LSU. Then his world collapsed. Kicked off the football team. He was deemed out of control. Failing life as they would say. A player who simply lost his way? After his dismissal, he would enter a drug rehabilitation program in Houston, Texas. Once out, he was arrested on drug related charges. It took a year where the sport of football he so loved banished him to the sidelines in 2012. 

That’s when he started to see the light and began taking responsibility for his wrongdoings. Said Tyrann: “I was at a point in life where I kind of said, 'Something’s got to change. I’ve got to turn a corner’ and I was grateful that I did.” He began to discipline his life. Focused on himself. That was most important. Then he began to work out with the hope that the NFL would give him a shot? A one-time chance to prove himself worthy?

The Arizona Cardinals did in 2013 but the NFL team never stopped worrying if he could handle the discipline, distractions and money? During his first season in 2013, Mathieu tore his left ACL and LCL. In 2015, he tore his right ACL. Tyrann would ultimately sustain four season-altering injuries in each of his first four seasons … and then was CUT! Mathieu said: “It was very humbling. I’ve never been cut before. I went into the bathroom after being told the news and looked myself in the mirror and said that would never happen again!" 

Passed over by every NFL team but one, he would sign a one-year, prove-it type of deal with the Houston Texans in 2018. That he did. Injury free now and his play on the field very much improved. Same for his reputation off the field. So much so that the Kansas City Chiefs were willing to invest three years and $42-Million Dollars in Tyrann Mathieu to have him help shore up their defensive backfield going into the 2019 season. Mathieu delivered and upped his game even more! What Patrick Mahomes was to the Chiefs offense, Mathieu quickly became the leader and catalyst for their defense. He closed out the 2019 season walking off the field as a Super Bowl Champion and appreciating life!

Never Stop Believing in Yourself and or let the outside environment strip you of your Dreams! 

Jim Loria

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES RELATING TO THIS STORY 

“Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody" – stated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an 1800’s American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride"

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“If you want to be truly successful invest in yourself to get the knowledge you need to find your unique factor. When you find it and focus on it and persevere your success will blossom" – stated by Sidney Madweb, American Poet and Author

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“The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude” – stated by William James, an 1800’s American philosopher and first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.

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