Tyrann Mathieu has lived many lives. College superstar. NFL champion, defensive menace, but apparently, he also once starred in a very short-lived horror movie called “Why Did I Drink Bleach?”
Yes, the former NFL player recently admitted he nearly died after drinking bleach in college (LSU) while trying to beat a drug test. That sentence alone should come with a warning label.
Back in his college days, Mathieu was under serious pressure. Expectations were high, rules were strict and instead of choosing logic, Google, or literally any adult, he chose bleach. Not a sip, not a joke. Actual bleach, the cleaning product.
According to Mathieu, he was desperate to pass a drug test. Desperation, as we know, is a terrible life coach. It whispers bad ideas and somehow makes them sound reasonable. “Drink bleach,” it said. “That’ll fix it,” it lied.
Tyrann Mathieu almost died trying to pass a drug test at LSU 😳
“It felt like my whole insides were erupting… at that point I was like, ‘f*ck it, I’ve run out of tricks.’” pic.twitter.com/qxvijVWnqb
— In The Bayou With Tyrann Mathieu (@InTheBayouPod) January 29, 2026
Spoiler alert: it did not fix it.
On an episode of his ‘In The Bayou’ podcast, Mathieu explained one extreme method he went through to try and pass.
‘I done tried everything in the books,’ Mathieu explained. ‘You know, I’ve used other people[‘s] urine, they got the fake penises.’
This is wild and it’s a lesson to the college football players who may also be thinking that risky path.
Mathieu then pivoted to one story that he initially called ‘funny’ before quickly retracting that sentiment and admitting he ‘could have died’.
‘A couple tests before I realize they was gonna kick me out of school, I’m sitting in a circle and I’m on Google trying to figure out “man, how the f*** do I pass this test? These folks keep threatening me.”‘
‘And I’m just scrolling, scrolling. And I come across some s**t that said just put some bleach in the [bottle] top… and put it in your Coca-Cola.
‘And so I did that, and I’m like “yo what the f***?” Like it felt like my whole insides was just erupting, you know what I’m saying? I end up throwing that s**t up. At that point, I was like man, f*** it I ran out of tricks. I don’t know what to do.
‘I remember sitting in front of that building man, with a f***ing cap full of bleach in a Coke bottle. I thought that was gonna save my life. It didn’t, it backfired.’
The bigger takeaway here isn’t just about bleach. It’s about pressure. Young athletes are often terrified of failing systems that don’t always protect them. When fear meets misinformation, disaster isn’t far behind.
Tyrann Mathieu survived, he learned and built an incredible career, but the lesson is clear: no test, no rule, and no moment is worth your life.
If bleach is involved, the answer is always no!
