New Orleans isn't worth dying for.
That's something Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, a native son of the Crescent City, needs to realize before it's too late.
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The LSU product's voice cracked Monday as he described the conditions in his hometown to Rich Eisen, the emotion seeping out through the Louisiana boot-shaped hole in his heart. Mathieu said a culture of jealousy-producing poverty — a hallmark of the 504, which has had one of the nation's highest murder rates for years — led to the slaying of former Saints defensive lineman Will Smith this past weekend.
Smith, a first-round draft pick and a hero in the N-O after helping to guide the Saints to their only Super Bowl victory, was gunned down late Saturday night. Cardell Hayes, 28, was booked on charges of second-degree murder.
There are myriad moving parts to this still-unfolding tale. A video shows Smith may have initiated contact with Hayes' Hummer prior to Hayes' vehicle rear-ending the former Ohio State standout's Mercedes. Police announced Tuesday that Smith had a loaded gun inside his vehicle at the time of the shooting.
Mathieu knows Hayes, whom he described as a "hating-ass coward" and a "bully," personally. He had several run-ins with Hayes, once a prep football star himself, growing up. As a person who sees himself as not only an ambassador for, but an example to, the town that birthed him, Mathieu thought it only right he call a spade a spade and point out New Orleans' problems while being willing to bear the burden of solving them.
In return, he said, he has received death threats.
"Most times, it's only a selected few of us that get a chance to make it out," Mathieu said, "and you know jealousy and envy plays a big part in all of this, so I'm pretty sure (Hayes) knew who Will Smith was . . . (Smith) did so much for the community. You have to know who Will Smith is."
Mathieu knows he was lucky.
Despite his biological father being in prison, his mother abandoning him and his grandfather dying, Mathieu avoided the foster care system when he was adopted by his uncle. He was fortunate enough to attend St. Augustine, an all-boys college prep school and a beacon of academic excellence in a state whose public school system routinely ranks among the nation's worst.
He boldly lambasted Louisiana's lack of educational and recreational opportunities in the communities that need them most, citing the decline of outlets such as the Boys & Girls Clubs and local parks, which provide after-school activities such as athletics to help keep kids off the streets, since Hurricane Katrina devastated the area in 2005.
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Many people simply don't have a chance to have a chance, so when they encounter someone like Mathieu or Smith, they're much more interested in taking what those stars have than receiving whatever they might offer. It's why Mathieu said that when he does go back to New Orleans, he only stays for, at most, a couple days.
"You will never see Lil Wayne in New Orleans. You will never see those type of guys in New Orleans because the hate and the jealousy is that real and it's that overwhelming," Mathieu said.
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That's also why he's vowing to change a toxic culture in a city renowned for celebration but reviled for deadly sin. "It's a tough situation," Mathieu added, "so for me, what I'm going to start doing is, I'm going to try to do my best to get those Boys & Girls Clubs back and running. Try my best to get the NORD (New Orleans Parks and Recreation Department) to put the money into the recreational centers."
His intentions are more than admirable, but the truth of the matter is, regardless of the burden anyone in New Orleans might try to place upon him, Mathieu doesn't have to do any of that. Sure, to whom much is given, much is required, but far too often impoverished communities attempt to make mini-Messiahs out of pro athletes when the reality is that they're in desperate need of the real one. Mathieu, as passionate as he may be, can't change anyone's heart by himself; an inward change is needed more than outward structures.
Charity starts at home. Mathieu is the father of two young sons. A third-round pick of the Cardinals in 2013, he's coming off his best campaign as a pro and is heading into the final season of an incentive-laden rookie deal that was set to pay him $3 million over four years. He's working to rehab a torn ACL in hopes he can establish generational wealth for his family with his second contract.
If he wants to give back, he has plenty of options. There are poor people everywhere, including places that won't meet his full heart and open arms with clenched fists and gripped pistols.
Mathieu doesn't owe New Orleans anything, but he wants to do everything he can for it. Let's hope its residents let him.