Multiple other teams could lay claim to Tyrann Mathieu. It's just that none of them feel as right as the Kansas City Chiefs.
There's the Arizona Cardinals, the very team that drafted Mathieu in the third round back in the 2013 NFL Draft out of LSU. He played five seasons for the Cardinals and made his first Pro Bowl with the team. A half-decade spent should count for something.
Then there's the New Orleans Saints, the last franchise to employ Mathieu as a game-wrecking safety. He spent three seasons with them—the same amount he spent in Kansas City—and the move was a homecoming for a fantastic player who is originally from the Big Easy.
He was only in Kansas City for three seasons, but Tyrann Mathieu meant everything to the Chiefs when he was here.
Mathieu played in more games in both Arizona and New Orleans—and even another 16 games with the Houston Texans. But none of that matters for the now-retired safety. Mathieu belongs to Kansas City.
It was in Kansas City that Mathieu blossomed into a true franchise leader and household name. It was with Steve Spagnuolo as his defensive coordinator that he became arguably the most feared defensive back in the National Football League—certainly at safety. It was also with the Chiefs that he became a Super Bowl champion.
While only in Kansas City for three seasons, he was a Pro Bowler in two of them and a two-time first-team All-Pro as well. In the season before Mathieu's arrival, the Chiefs' defense was ranked No. 24 in points allowed. During Mathieu's stint in the Chiefs' secondary, the team was never out of the top 10.
Not only was Mathieu an elite force on the field, but he was so very generous off of it. He was nominated as the team's Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee in 2021 for having gifted turkeys to families all over the region on Thanksgiving, for having donated considerable resources to teachers and students, and for having provided the Boys and Girls Club of Greater K.C. with a special back-to-school shopping experience and dinner out on the town.
While Mathieu was undoubtedly valuable to other teams during his impressive and lengthy tenure in the National Football League, the truth is that he was especially so for the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a hero on and off the field, and was immeasurably important for a team claiming its first championship in 50 seasons.
For that reason, Mathieu belongs not only to the Chiefs, but he should also belong to the Chiefs Ring of Honor. He's a true franchise legend and deserves to be remembered as such.