Actually, the Honey Badger do … I mean, does care.
Two issues ago, I wrote in ESPN The Magazine about Virginia Tech's David Wilson and his incredibly lofty set of personal goals that he keeps taped up in his locker. But as pie-in-the-sky as Wilson's list was, it didn't include one target that LSU's Tyrann Mathieu has had his eye on since the 2011 preseason.
"Absolutely I want to win the Heisman Trophy," he said late last week before his six-tackle, one-interception performance against Florida. "People ask me all the time: Aren't you afraid of all the Heisman hype that's building? I'm not afraid of it at all. I take it as a big compliment, and honestly, it was a goal of mine to be in all that Heisman talk."
One year ago it was teammate Patrick Peterson, whose number Mathieu now wears, who was trying to build his Heisman case from the defensive backfield. Despite a midseason push by LSU, he failed to crack the top 10 in voting. But there's no doubt that Peterson's success, combined with the YouTube sensation that is the Honey Badger, has Mathieu making a move into the national Heisman psyche.
But what are his chances of actually winning? So glad you asked.
Why he'll win
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Ryan McGee | email
ESPN The Magazine, NASCAR- ESPN The Magazine senior writer
- 2-time Sports Emmy winner
- 2010 NMPA Writer of the Year
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Ryan McGee
Ryan McGee is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. While you may know him for his extensive and very popular NASCAR coverage on this site and television, he's also been a constant in the Mag's coverage of college football. Why? Well, to wit:
• He started working in college athletic departments at 16 (Furman, Tennessee). Got his first sideline pass (UNC @ Virginia) when he was 12 and was totally run over by Tar Heels LB Micah Moon.
• His father was a college football official for 36 years (FBS 1981-2009), working 20 bowl games and two national championships.
• Ryan's a member of the FWAA (Football Writers Association of America).
• He's covered college football for ESPN The Magazine for the last five years.
• He's all over college sports -- Ryan authored "The Road To Omaha: Hits, Hopes and History at the College World Series."
Follow Ryan on Twitter: @ESPNMcGee
