When LSU safety Eric Reid worked his way through the school's campus Tuesday morning and reached "The Quad" he saw a familiar face smiling back in his direction.
For the first time in what Reid estimated being nearly a month he saw Tyrann "Honey Badger" Mathieu with his own two eyes after the former Heisman Trophy finalist returned to LSU to begin classes for the fall semester.
"He's positive," Reid said. "He knows this is going to be a positive step in the long run and he can't wait to get back.
"Tyrann's very positive," Reid said. "He knows he made a mistake and he's moving on from that. He really looks forward to the future and doing things right from now on."
Mathieu, who enjoyed a rapid rise to fame during his first two years in the program, suffered an equally precipitous fall when the 5-foot-9 play-making machine was dismissed from the team on Aug. 10 for what was reported as a violation of the school's substance abuse policy.
There was plenty of uncertainty over his future whether Mathieu, who received interest from 20 schools, could return to the program or would transfer to a non-Division I school and continue his on-field career with a possible toward the eye toward the NFL.
Instead of opting for any of the aforementioned possibilities the 20-year-old Mathieu, who did visit McNeese State hours after his dismissal, entered the Right Step recovery center which former NBA star John Lucas runs in Houston.
"I think he is making some quality decisions for himself," said LSU football coach Les Miles, who has been evasive on Mathieu's possible return to the team in 2013. "I believe that he has really made some difficult decisions for himself that will better him as he goes forward. We certainly wish him the very best."
Just a sampling from some of his teammates showed a unified front where Mathieu was involved. Although not all of them saw him on his first day back each of them remarked how proud they were of Mathieu for seeking help from Lucas, who battled substance abuse during his NBA career, and returned to school to continue his education at his own expense.
"I think 95 percent of the people would have run away," LSU junior cornerback Tharold Simon said. "But I think the reason why he came back was to look everyone in the face and let them know he's changing as a person and that he wants to do things better for himself and not just from a football perspective. He wants to be a better person and that's the reason he chose the route to come back to LSU."
Sophomore wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was impressed with Mathieu's courage to look outside his state's borders for help to battle his personal demons and return to LSU to face his peers and same student body that worshiped the Tiger Stadium grass he walked on.
"I respect everything he's doing," Beckham said. "That's a huge deal to come back to school and get a degree. I haven't seen him yet but I still talk to him every other day. That's the friendship we have."
Reid recalled his brief encounter with Mathieu, whom he teamed with for two years to give LSU one of the nation's top secondary's in the country along with former first-round NFL selections Patrick Peterson and Morris Claiborne.
"He was very positive; smiling," Reid said. "He knows this is something he has to do and will be better for him in the long run. I know it will go slowly for him but I hope it goes by fast."