Arizona Cardinals cornerback Tyrann Mathieu said he can't come home to
New Orleans to mourn his idol Will Smith — because he's been overwhelmed
with death threats for speaking out about Smith's accused killer.
"I don't think I can go back to New Orleans. I don't think that's possible," Mathieu told the Daily News on Monday.
"Why? Because I called a spade a spade."
Smith, a former defensive end for the New Orleans Saints, was shot and killed Saturday allegedly by Cardell Hayes, a one-time local prep player with a middling pigskin career. Police said Hayes rear-ended Smith's car, then whipped out a handgun during a verbal argument, firing several shots at the former Saints star.
The day after Smith's killing, Mathieu alluded to knowing Hayes — and holding a grudge against him.
"I know that dude, he been a hating ass coward...Never knew he'd grow up to be a killer tho...May you get what you deserve coward," Mathieu, 23, tweeted.
That tweet, and others about the cycle of gun violence in his hometown, sparked a flood of online harassment and death threats from those who know Hayes in New Orleans, Mathieu said.
"New Orleans is a very small city, and most people never speak up," he said.
"Most people accept that lifestyle and say it's okay and you have to be violent. For me to use my platform to speak up...that created this."
It was not immediately clear if Mathieu had filed a police report.
One of Hayes’ high school friends, Warren Matthews, blasted Mathieu’s comments in USA Today, saying the Cardinals player “doesn’t know the situation” and “doesn’t do anything for the city.”
source
"Why? Because I called a spade a spade."
Smith, a former defensive end for the New Orleans Saints, was shot and killed Saturday allegedly by Cardell Hayes, a one-time local prep player with a middling pigskin career. Police said Hayes rear-ended Smith's car, then whipped out a handgun during a verbal argument, firing several shots at the former Saints star.
The day after Smith's killing, Mathieu alluded to knowing Hayes — and holding a grudge against him.
"I know that dude, he been a hating ass coward...Never knew he'd grow up to be a killer tho...May you get what you deserve coward," Mathieu, 23, tweeted.
That tweet, and others about the cycle of gun violence in his hometown, sparked a flood of online harassment and death threats from those who know Hayes in New Orleans, Mathieu said.
"New Orleans is a very small city, and most people never speak up," he said.
"Most people accept that lifestyle and say it's okay and you have to be violent. For me to use my platform to speak up...that created this."
It was not immediately clear if Mathieu had filed a police report.
One of Hayes’ high school friends, Warren Matthews, blasted Mathieu’s comments in USA Today, saying the Cardinals player “doesn’t know the situation” and “doesn’t do anything for the city.”
source
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