“Honey Badger” Narrator picking Tigers
Star LSU Tigers cornerback Tyrann Mathieu – whose nickname Brent Musburger can’t quite get enough of – has made his presence known in ways far more subtle than we’re used to, so far at least. The Alabama Crimson Tide has been hesitant to punt his way, sending their only kick out of bounds instead of his way.
Mathieu has four touchdowns on the year, coming by all manner of return type.
He does have a tipped pass and made a great tackle on Eddie Lacy that prevented what would’ve been a first down deep in LSU’s turf. Leading the team in tackles on the year is rare for a cornerback, but he’s shown he’s far from a liability in run coverage.
Now that Alabama has a two-score lead, look for him to get more aggressive in seeking out the ball – he’s already the school’s all-time fumbles-forced leader, and he’s only a sophomore.
Against both Arkansas and Georgia, it was a Mathieu kick return that sparked LSU out of early slumps and into lengthy second half rolls. LSU fans should hope for a stop on the opening drive and a daring punt by Bama – I’d presume.
Tyrann Mathieu.
Honey Badger don’t care, but Randall does. He’ll be cheering for LSU in the BCS championship game.
A self-described nature enthusiast who only gives his first name, Randall told The Associated Press on Sunday that he’s picking the top-ranked Tigers and their All-American cornerback and returner, Tyrann Mathieu – the guy who’s been nicknamed the ‘Honey Badger’ for his fearless play.
“Jumping and leaping and doing the things he does, it’s crazy!” Randall said in a telephone interview from his Southern California home, sounding just as excited and awestruck as he does in his famous video. “He just plays with such heart and such vigor. It’s just very exciting. To me, that embodies the honey badger. He just takes whatever he wants and nothing is going to stop him.”
Randall, of course, became a viral Internet sensation with his hilarious narration of a staid nature video showing the honey badger, an African creature once described by the Guinness Book of World Records as the fiercest animal in the world.
The video has received more than 31 million hits on YouTube and sparked a cottage industry that includes T-shirts, a television commercial and a book coming out January 24, “Honey Badger Don’t Care,” Randall’s guide to 10 of the craziest, nastiest animals in the wild.
Mathieu is only 5 feet 9 inches tall and 175 pounds, but he was a Heisman finalist as a sophomore and starred for the Tigers on both defense and special teams, scoring four touchdowns and creating havoc all over the field.
Early on, Mathieu wasn’t exactly thrilled about his new nickname. But he came to embrace it when both he and his namesake emerged as national sensations. The Tigers (13-0) will face No. 2 Alabama (11-1) in the title game Monday night at the Superdome.
“Honey badger is such a relentless animal” – Mathieu said. “He’s fierce. And he definitely doesn’t fear anything. So I just try to take the same approach to the field, and just try to play smart and violent football for my team.”
Between the loaded rosters of LSU and Alabama, the Superdome will be bursting with stars for tonight’s BCS National Championship Game. But nobody shines brighter than Tyrann Mathieu, LSU’s highlight machine cornerback and owner of college football’s best nickname – ‘Honey Badger’. Mathieu would have been a breakout star this season had he never inherited the moniker, but the Honey Badger handle creates an appeal that transcends what happens on the field.
And he’s got a guy named Randall to thank.
Randall is the wise-cracking narrator of the Internet sensation that features a National Geographic nature video starring the honey badger, a vicious weasel-like creature found mostly in Africa. More than 31 million people have clicked on the YouTube video, making pop-culture icons of both the beast and narrator, whose voice, according to an interview last year with Forbes.com, belongs to writer and comedian Christopher Gordon.
Reached over the weekend by The Associated Press, Randall admitted he’s become an LSU fan and, naturally, has found kinship with the player named after his favorite animal.
Randall recently had a dream about watching LSU-Alabama Part II and said the Tigers came out victors, 35-10. Tonight doesn’t figure to be that lopsided, but don’t bet against the man behind honey badger fame.
Randall became hooked on nature videos, in part because his father was a cameraman for Marlin Perkins’ old show “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.” He’s also voiced videos featuring bullfrogs, goats, lizards and other exotic animals. But there’s only one honey badger — in the wilderness and on the field.
“The same feeling I get when I’m watching Tyrann play, that’s what I get when I’m watching honey badger” – Randall said. “There’s no other animal that comes to mind that’s this aggressive. It really sets out to get what it wants. It doesn’t really care about anyone else in the animal kingdom. I was blown away when I saw that video.
“I’ve seen normal wildlife films of lions attacking gazelles and gross stuff like that. But the little honey badger is getting stung by bees and bitten by cobras and it just gets back up and keeps walking. I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s unbelievable. I’m just in awe on the honey badger. Absolute awe.”