When he intercepted Lamar Jackson twice in the first quarter of the Chiefs-Ravens game a few weeks ago, I thought that I recognized Ty Mathieu’s name enough to wonder “Hey, wasn’t he the Honey Badger?”
Sure enough, it was him even though neither Al Michaels nor Collingsworth at the time referred to him as such. Thus, I wondered what ever happened to Honey Badger as Ty’s nickname? Too, it made me think “Just what the hell is a honey badger anyway.”
Here is what I learned: Ty got his nickname while playing for LSU when a coach played the following video and compared Ty’s style of playing to that of a honey badger (click here.)
Even though Ty wasn’t exactly happy with the nickname, it stuck and he became such a well known college star that after his sophomore year he finished high up in the Heisman Trophy voting. (High up is the key phrase here because eventually he got suspended from the team for pot-related offenses before dropping out and declaring for the NFL draft.)
Somewhere along the way, Ty also let it be known that he didn’t particularly care for the nickname Honey Badger. That explains why he doesn’t get referred to as the Honey Badger anymore.
Today, he prefers to be known as The Landlord (click here.) Hey, Ty, doesn’t matter what you prefer, you’re always gonna be known as The Honey Badger!
Ty and the Chiefs play the WFT today and you may hear his name mentioned here and there. See if Honey Badger doesn’t slide somewhere into the conversation.
Not one of my favorite Beatles’ tunes but it does mention Honey a lot: