To the dismay of New Orleans Saints fans, Tyrann Mathieu sported Falcons colors with a Deion Sanders retro t-shirt for his Week 1 pregame warmups.
New Orleans Saints fans are going to hate this one. Their big offseason defensive back signing, hometown favorite Tyrann Mathieu, is wearing an Atlanta Falcons shirt for Week 1 pregame warmups in Atlanta against the Falcons.
To be fair, it’s a nod to Deion Sanders more than it is the Falcons, but it doesn’t matter if you’re a Saints fan, you hate to see it.
Nick Underhill reported the warmup attire and subsequently Tweeted out a picture in the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta where the Week 1 rivalry match will take place.
Tyrann Mathieu grew up rooting for the Saints, so his Falcons attire is questionable
Tyrann Mathieu grew up a Louisiana boy rooting for the Saints. We can go ahead and assume he hated the Falcons.
According to Underhill (subscription required), reporters tried to bait Mathieu into talking bad about the Falcons this week, but he was mostly professional talking about how he viewed the team growing up. He replied professionally and admitted he didn’t like the team, but didn’t use the word “hate.” Media professional.
So it’s surprising to see him bring out the Deion Sanders shirt pregame. Saints fans have to realize that this is just a nod to one of the best defensive backs to play the game, not necessarily a siding with the Falcons. Mathieu is all-in with his hometown team this season and hoping to push them to their second franchise Super Bowl win.
We’ll see if he channels his inner Sanders today. He’ll want to replicate Sanders’ Week 1 performance from the 1999 season where he logged a pick-six against Houston.