Tyrann Mathieu turns rant on New Orleans’ violence into action with youth camp

2:08 AM ET

NEW ORLEANS — Tyrann Mathieu was back in his hometown of New Orleans on Saturday, hosting his first-ever youth football camp less than two months after he told the New York Daily News, “I don’t think I can go back to New Orleans. I don’t think that’s possible.”

At the time, Mathieu said he received death threats after he called the man who shot former New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith a “coward,” and spoke passionately about the culture of violence in his hometown in a Twitter rant and with multiple media outlets.

But on Saturday, the Arizona Cardinals’ All-Pro safety said he believes some of his comments were “misunderstood,” and it was important for him to try to turn them into action by creating the “Heart of A Badger” camp.

“This was a place I grew up at, a place that means a lot to me. All my family’s here,” Mathieu said. “The most important thing is that I lost a lot of family members here. So I spoke from an emotional place, a personal place. And you never want to see anybody lose their life. So that was really the gist of my saying what I said at that time.”

“I think a lot of people should stand up and speak out and give back,” Tyrann Mathieu said. “I’m just fortunate enough that have a platform that I’m able to do that.” Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports

Mathieu said Smith’s death “had a lot to do …

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