Tyrann Mathieu is opening up about a dangerous chapter from his college years, revealing just how far he once went to try to avoid failing drug tests at LSU.
On a recent episode of his podcast In the Bayou, the former NFL star admitted he attempted nearly every trick he could find. “I done tried everything in the books,” Mathieu said. “I’ve used other people’s urine, you know, they got the fake penises.”
One attempt nearly cost him his life. Describing a moment of panic before a test, Mathieu recalled searching online for solutions. “I come across some s–t that say, ‘Man, just put some bleach in the top… put a little bleach in the top and put it in your Coca-Cola.’ And so I did that.”
The result was immediate and terrifying. “It felt like my whole insides was just erupting,” he said. “I ended up throwing that s–t up. I remember sitting in front of that building with a cap full of bleach in a Coke bottle thinking that was going to save my life. It didn’t. It backfired.”
Mathieu’s struggles with failed drug tests led to suspensions and eventually his dismissal from LSU in 2012. He later entered rehab and began rebuilding his future, eventually becoming a first-round NFL Draft pick in 2013.
Looking back, Mathieu sees the moment as a turning point. “I done ran out of tricks,” he said of that day. “I didn’t know what to do.”
After a career with the Cardinals, Chiefs and Saints, Mathieu retired in 2024 with gratitude. “This isn’t goodbye,” he said at the time. “It’s just the next chapter.”
