Tyrann Mathieu could barely get the words out, the sobs and tears muffling his voice through the telephone.
'I know I'm on the right track,' he said.
The Arizona Cardinals seem to think so.
After relatively safe choices in the first two rounds of the NFL draft, the Cardinals took a chance in the third by taking Mathieu, the talented-but-troubled cornerback out of LSU.

Based on their own evaluations and the word of their Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson, Mathieu's former LSU teammate and one of his closest friends, the Cardinals used the 69th overall pick Friday night to take the player affectionately known as the Honey Badger.

'He impressed me so much in my office one on one, knowing at this point in time what he needs to do in his life,' Cardinals first-year coach Bruce Arians said. 'I was really taken aback a little bit. He knows what his problems are, he knows what he has done to himself, but he also knows that someone will give him a chance, that he knows what he needs to make sure he succeeds.'

Once considered a Heisman Trophy front-runner and sure-bet first-rounder, Mathieu became a risky choice for NFL teams after a string of off-the-field incidents put his character in question.

A Heisman Trophy finalist in 2011, Mathieu was kicked off the team by LSU coach Les Miles in preseason camp last August for failing multiple drug tests.

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