Tyrann Mathieu Blasts Bill Polian For Evaluation On Joe Burrow
Kansas City Chiefs star Tyrann Mathieu came to the defense of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on Tuesday over comments from former Buffalo Bills’ executive Bill Polian about the rookie’s expected performance in 2020. Max Bevington of FanSided reported that the defensive back tweeted, in a now-deleted post, that Polian made a mistake when it came to evaluating Mathieu before he was drafted so the exec probably didn’t have it right on Burrow either.
“Same guy who said he wouldn’t draft me cause I wasn’t a leader? Imma 3x Team Captain. Said I don’t deserve The opportunity to provide for my family? I’m one of the highest paid players at my position. LETS GEAUX JOE,” Mathieu wrote.
As Bevington pointed out, everything Mathieu posted was refuting claims made about the player before he was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2013 NFL Draft. The writer added there were plenty of people who doubted the Chiefs star when he first came into the NFL.
Mathieu has previously spoken about his excitement in seeing what the rookie quarterback can do in the league, and the pair have a bit of a connection since they both played for the Louisiana State Tigers, even though they were with the program several years apart. The defensive back played with LSU during the 2010 and 2011 seasons and finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2011.
Burrow played for the Tigers the last two seasons, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2019 after throwing for over 5,000 yards and 60 touchdowns while notching just six interceptions. He capped off his college career by being selected with the first overall pick in the 2020 Draft by the Bengals.
Joe Burrow has agreed to a $36.1M contract with the Bengals, pending a physical later this week, per source. But HOF GM Bill Polian is predicting that Burrow will struggle this season.
?: https://t.co/3rYSRrEwHP pic.twitter.com/UJ3heeezpT
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 28, 2020
Mathieu’s comments came after the Cincy signal-caller signed his rookie contract with his new team on Tuesday. Not long after the signing, ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted a portion of an interview with Polian on Twitter where he said the quarterback was likely going to struggle in 2020 because it had taken him so long to sign the contract.
Mathieu has made it clear in the past he holds a grudge against the ex-Bills executive for his evaluation. Bevington pointed out it probably was less about which player was being criticized in the Twitter post and more about who was doing the criticizing.
While the two LSU alumni were scheduled to face off against one another in the preseason this fall, part of the league’s agreement with the NFLPA to have a season at all this year was doing away with exhibition games. That means if the two players face off this year, it would have to be in the playoffs.
