Baton Rouge, LA

Former LSU star cornerback Tyrann Mathieu announced his intention to enter the 2013 NFL draft.

Mathieu, aalso known as "Honey Badger", was dismissed from the program prior to the season due to what coach Les Miles calls a violation of team rules.

But published statements by Miles,athletic director Joe Alleva and associate athletic director for NCAA compliance Bo Bahnsen said Mathieu was permanently out of the program and referenced the school's substance abuse policy.

Mathieu at first considered playing in the 2012 season for a lower division school, where he would have been eligible immediately as opposed to having to sit out a yearif he transferred to an upper level school. But he was disappointed in his trip to lower division McNeese State in Lake Charles.

He then asked LSU coaches if he could return to LSU for the 2013 season.

However, he was arrested for marijuana possession on Oct. 25 three other former LSU football players.

Mathieu is a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2011 for his uncanny, instinctual ability to cause and recover turnovers while also a dangerous kick returner. He is only 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds but makes up for his lack of size with tremendous ball anticipation and big play instincts.

Had Mathieu not entered the draft, his future as a student was in question anyway because of Rule 8.2 in the student handbook concerning non-academic misconduct. A student can be expelled if he or she is"the subject of a (law enforcement) agency arrest, including being charged with a misdemeanor offense," the handbook says.

 

Tyrann Mathieu is headed to the 2013 NFL draft

 

 

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