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Tyrann Mathieu, other Cardinals react to having their names butchered

Posted at 3:24 PM, Sep 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-12 07:35:34-04

The résumé of Arizona Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu is quite impressive.

2011 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. 2011 consensus All-American. 2015 Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection.

So, it was a bit of a surprise when college football announcer Gus Johnson sounded like he had never heard of Mathieu when he butchered his name during a recent broadcast. 

Matthew's name is pronounced "Ty-run Matthew." Johnson called him "Ty-ran Mutt-OH."

"I'll tell you, man, I'm used to it," Mathieu told ABC15's Jason Snavely. "It's like, OK, bro. Just give me a break."

Mathieu -- who, for the record, does know how to pronounce Gus Johnson's name -- joked he'll just have to do a little more on the field in order to have his name pronounced correctly in the future.

"I guess they still treat me like a walk-on or a scout team player. I gotta make a few more plays, man," he said with a laugh.

But the Honey Badger isn't the only Cardinal to have his name routinely spoken incorrectly. Offensive lineman Evan Boehm (pronounced "Bame") doesn't even bother to spell his name correctly in public, because he knows it'll be a waste of time.

"When we go to restaurants to put in reservations, we have to spell it a different way so they pronounce it the right way," he said, adding he usually spells his name B-A-M-E to simplify matters.

Safety Antonie Bethea (pronounced "Buth-AY") often has a third syllable added to his last name ("Buth-AY-uh") by others.

"If I got a dollar for every time I heard that, I'd be a wealthy man. I've been hearing my name butchered for a long time," he said. "Just keep it short and simple."