Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated ignited the extinguished fuse on the Tyrann Mathieu bomb.
But that bomb exploded before the magazine could heave it toward the football-crazed masses, leaving it to gather its shards of credibility.
First, let’s take the article by Sports Illustrated writers Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans for what it is — a regurgitation of everything Honey Badger that had already been reported, written and overanalyzed.
Mathieu was kicked off the team and went to rehab, probably (it still hasn’t been confirmed) because he smoked pot. His biological father is in prison for a violent crime. He’s the former mohawked Honey Badger who took what he wanted on the football field.
We’ve got it, and we’ve had it for a while. Only one element of the story was fresh, and it too was a nonstarter.
Mathieu’s image, along with those of former LSU defensive back Morris Claiborne and sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Johnson, was used on a flier to promote an event at The Palace, a local night club.
The article questions Mathieu’s potential eligibility if he were ever to suit up again because of the flier and other promotional material, but good luck with that case.
The club’s owner, Torrey Lewis, already said in an interview with WBRZ that the club pulls photos off the Internet and puts them on the fliers without player consent.
“Everybody does that,” Lewis said in the interview.
LSU has already said Johnson was unaware the images were used, and it has experience with people using Mathieu’s likeness to sell something.
Remember those Honey Badger T-shirts? LSU’s Compliance Office issued a cease and desist order last December concerning the shirts under the heading “Honey Badger Does Care.”
“Please be advised that the sale of any products and/or advertisements including the name, likeness or image of [Mathieu] or any other LSU student-athlete is in violation of NCAA Bylaw 12.5.2.2 and could have a negative impact on the involved student-athlete’s eligibility.”
The article was grasping at straws, searching for something new to report.
If the NCAA were to hit Mathieu with a violation, it better be prepared to tackle players at just about every prominent university with a bar or club nearby.
But we can’t stand back and pick the article apart without understanding the motivation behind it being Sports Illustrated’s Oct. 22 cover story.
You wanted this article. You didn’t necessarily want it the way Thamel and Evans presented it, but you still craved it. We all did.
Mathieu is a fascinating individual with a cautionary tale, one that in due time will come out and probably enlighten us all in some way.
Yes, in two years his star rose at break-neck speed to heights most probably didn’t think possible for a college defensive back. With his success came his persona, and with his persona came an insatiable desire from the fanbase for more.
Yes, when his star fell we all scrambled to sate that desire. It’s not a case of kicking him while he’s down, as many who commented on Sports Illustrated’s website seemed to think. Mathieu’s larger-than-life persona made him a hot topic.
We are all drawn to him, either positively or negatively, and that demand drives the media’s attempts to supply his story.
The problem is that Sports Illustrated took that demand and supplied a half-cooked story.
Luke Johnson is a 26-year-old mass communication senior from Lake Mills, Wis.
