Transformative a year ago for Chiefs, Tyrann Mathieu exerts influence all the more now
In the few weeks since the Chiefs signed former Seattle Seahawks safety Tedric Thompson, he’s already caught on to the forces behind the culture of what he calls “like, a workaholic camp.”
It starts with coach Andy Reid, naturally. But it’s embraced and animated and thus defined by his new teammates.
And none more influential than the 28-year-old Tyrann Mathieu. Thompson, 25, has long admired him from afar because he radiates what Thompson considers “love, love, love, love” of the game. Turns out that looks all the more pure up close.
Out on the field, Thompson was struck by Mathieu’s keen sense of where he is. And where everyone else is, for that matter, for all to observe and hear and feel and follow.
“He’s talking every play,” Thompson said Friday after the Chiefs’ first full practice in pads as the defending Super Bowl champions prepare for their scheduled Sept. 10 opener against Houston at Arrowhead Stadium.
“He knows what the left corner is doing; he knows what the right corner is doing. He knows what the left (defensive) end is doing; he knows what the ‘Mike’ (linebacker) is doing.”
To say nothing of what the guys on the other side of the field are doing, an acquired sixth sense that Thompson appreciates already. As he tries to learn a new system and no doubt seeks to make the right impression, Thompson went to a meeting about 15 minutes early the other day … only to discover Mathieu already in the room watching film and “breaking down tendencies.”
Now, if you’ve been around the charismatic and driven Mathieu, it’s hardly a surprise that none of his own tendencies are breaking down a year after he proved a catalyst for the defensive revival essential to the Chiefs winning their first Super Bowl in half a century.
Signed as a free agent not just to shore up the safety position but also to galvanize what began as a hodge-podge of new parts under a new coordinator installing a new scheme, he exuded that in every way:
From regularly hosting teammates in his home on Thursday nights … to putting together encouraging video clips for them … to that “too smart” bit he instilled by pointing to his head … to his willingness to post sheer human emotions on social media, as he did Friday on Twitter when he wrote, “I can cry at any moment, sometimes I do ...”
From his devotion to causes such as family and his foundation and PETA and voting … to speaking openly about the anguish and transgressions of his own journey … and being candid about his ambivalence toward the nickname Honey Badger ...
From taking ownership of his own mistakes on the field now to his enthusiasm for his brethren getting big paydays to, by all accounts, living out what he said to me one day in a one-on-one chat in front of his locker: “Being a great teammate, it might be better than being the best player on the team.”
And being one of the best players and one of the best teammates is something altogether special, something that gives him a certain rippling parallel resonance to star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
For something I wrote last year about the tangible energizing chemistry in the locker room, receiver Sammy Watkins — from not just the other side of the ball but halfway across the locker room — considered just how contagious that sort of presence can be.
“He affects everyone around him; he’s that type of person,” he said. “Before a game, he gets us right. It’s something that you can feel. It’s something that’s not fake. It’s just something he’s been called to do. I can feel his energy everywhere.”
What’s all the more remarkable about how Mathieu permeated those around him last year is that it would seem problematic to just materialize among proud and competitive men somewhere and say, Shazam, I’m the leader. At his introductory news conference after the Chiefs signed him to a three-year, $42 million deal in March 2019, he said: “It will be my job to come in here, try to (provide) some direction, try to give guys some motivation, some inspiration and ... be an everyday factor.”
That might have come off presumptuous or audacious and could have stirred up resentment.
But between his certain inherent charm and the impact of his abilities on the field, Mathieu made good on the declaration because of his compelling conviction to earn it. By the time the Super Bowl neared and he said his whole approach was “about taking other people with me,” anyone could feel his sincerity.
(Side note: Which makes it all the more mystifying that Arizona and then Houston didn’t seem to see all this in him.)
That was then, of course, and this is now, under an entirely different set of circumstances that starts with navigating the ever-lurking COVID-19 coronavirus. The pandemic has led to a discombobulated offseason for all and still trying to come to terms with how very different the day-to-day is behind the scenes at this training camp … not to mention how it affects the off-field bonding that’s such a part of meaningful cohesion.
But with the Chiefs returning nearly all of their starters amid an offseason signing spree (including the announcement of tight end Travis Kelce’s extension Thursday) that suggests contention for years to come and keeping the coaching staff largely intact, they have established a template that no one else has in place now.
And the defensive aspect of that, reinforced by such other pillars as defensive linemen Chris Jones and Frank Clark, should only get better. Certainly, it should be better earlier than it was a year ago, when it needed every moment of half a season to start to jell.
Part of that will come from top-down leadership, as much from Mahomes on offense as Mathieu on defense.
As he tries to teach youngsters to “fall in love with the grind,” Mathieu undoubtedly has become yet more comfortable in his role. That’s all the more refined in the ongoing development of his rapport with Spagnuolo, which at least possesses some similarities to the utter mind-meld between Reid and Mahomes.
(Not that Reid doesn’t feel in harmony with Mathieu himself, on Friday calling him a “phenomenal leader” and noting that such a dynamic presence normally is innate but also is earned by living right.)
In their first year working together, Spagnuolo came to see Mathieu as both the focal point of the defense and his portal to it. When he needed to convey a point, Spagnuolo was prone to seek out Mathieu and say, “Can you steer them a little bit this way?”
Meanwhile, Mathieu’s faith in Spagnuolo is on another tier than it could have been a year ago, when they hardly knew each other. Spagnuolo, Mathieu has come to recognize, doesn’t just know X’s and O’s.
“He understands what buttons to push (and) how to reach each and every one of us,” Matheiu said Friday. “To me, that’s way more powerful than a coach teaching you how to play Cover 2.”
Not everybody, he added, “can teach and reach.”
He should know. Because that gift of his own provided something vital toward the Chiefs’ reach at last exceeding their grasp last year … and in the process making so much more seem attainable now, as Thompson and others are learning first-hand.