Bidding a fond farewell to Tyrann Mathieu

In 1897, Francis Church wrote a famous editorial titled, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus“. It was written to a little girl, Virginia, who was questioning whether Santa was real after her friends told her he wasn’t. Church opens by stating, “Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.”

This rings true in some pockets of Chiefs Kingdom as Tyrann Mathieu heads into free agency. Some fans have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age, indeed, but that means something different in Kansas City. When Mathieu was here, Chiefs culture turned into a winning one. Ironically, that has made a skeptic, or more so, a critic, of many.

Maybe it’s brought on by uneasiness and fear that the woes of the 2000s and pre-Andy Reid 2010s will reappear. Maybe those folks are just realists and always prepare for the worst, rather than hope for the best. I haven’t quite been able to place a finger on why anyone would want Tyrann Mathieu out of Kansas City or have anything remotely negative to say about him, but in any instance, I believe he is owed a great deal of appreciation.

Contributing writer K.C. Proctor writes a fond farewell letter to former Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu.

Here is my farewell and thank you letter to the Honey Badger:

Tyrann,

The three years you spent in Kansas City will be used as a measuring stick against every free agent signing for the remainder of Chiefs history. Three straight Pro Bowls, back-to-back All-Pro seasons, two straight Super Bowl appearances, a title, and the culture you created through leadership both on and off the field. No dollar amount can equal the value of what you brought to this team, organization, fanbase, and city.

The electricity with which you play and the passion with which you lead tilled the soil in which “championship swagger” blossomed. Your presence made an immediate and obvious impact on everyone around you. The expectations that have been reset for Kansas City football, while bolstered by the offensive core, were built by the chip on your shoulder and your desire to win. It was your attitude and approach to the job that laid the pavement for this next era of Chiefs to succeed and create their own legacy.

You showed up to a defense in need of total reconstruction and shouldered the weight of a captain’s responsibility for three straight years through the process. From what was shored up by you coming to town in 2019, and what has been laid down for 2022 and the future beyond it, you won’t find a more grateful group than Chiefs Kingdom. What you did here in the short amount of time you were given was nothing short of incredible.

The time has come for you to move on, and it feels swift now that it’s here. You expressed a desire to retire a Chief, and your high opinions of the team, coaches, and organization did not fall on deaf ears. It is simply time. You are leaving behind a defensive group that will rebuild, and your energy will live on through the young core to whom you have passed the torch. You are leaving behind a team, that is shaped by your unwillingness to quit. You are leaving behind a fanbase, which has grown dangerously accustomed to the bar you set for yourself and those around you. And, finally, you are leaving behind a city that is eternally grateful for what you have given back to it.

Thank you for helping to bring the Lamar Hunt trophy home. Thank you for bringing the Lombardi back to K.C. for the first time in half a century. Thank you for fulfilling a contract and going far beyond what it asked. And, most of all, thank you for being you. The Honey Badger will be a legend of Chiefs Kingdom forever, and we wish you and yours nothing but the best as you move forward.

Farewell, 32.