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Tyrann Mathieu doesn't owe New Orleans anything

New Orleans isn't worth dying for.

That's something Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu, a native son of the Crescent City, needs to realize before it's too late.

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The LSU product's voice cracked Monday as he described the conditions in his hometown to Rich Eisen, the emotion seeping out through the Louisiana boot-shaped hole in his heart. Mathieu said a culture of jealousy-producing poverty — a hallmark of the 504, which has had one of the nation's highest murder rates for years — led to the slaying of former Saints defensive lineman Will Smith this past weekend.