Canal Street Chronicles
The event was held at Lafitte Greenway Park in New Orleans.
On Saturday, June 28th, 2025, New Orleans Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu hosted his 8th annual “Heart of a Badger” youth football camp at Lafitte Greenway Park in New Orleans.
Sponsored by his Mathieu’s foundation, the camp is held annually for 300 local area children in grades K-9, who have the opportunity to get some fun football instruction and training drills from Mathieu, his friends, colleagues and certified coaches. The free event was followed by Mathieu’s 6th annual Back-2-School Jamboree to prepare the kids for their upcoming school year, where he gave away backpacks with school supplies. Campers also enjoyed water slides, free haircuts from an on-site barber, face painting, bracelet making, and more. This year’s event also featured a new 7-on-7 tournament with local high schools for an opportunity to win a cash prize and custom cleats.
Mathieu said, “I mean, it’s still some excitement in it. Just planning the kids’ day out and just trying to give them a spark for something they need to try to carry them through the rest of the season and the school year. Some of these kids have been here like 3 or 4 times. One of the kids is at Tulane now, playing football so I guess just seeing these kids grow up and kind of becoming what they told me they would be when they were out here, so I think that’s what it’s all about.”
The New Orleans native attended St. Augustine High School and LSU before being selected by the Arizona Cardinals in 2013 NFL Draft. Mathieu spent time with the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs prior to signing with the Saints in May 2022.
To learn more about Mathieu’s foundation, please visit www.tyrannmathieu.org.
