Missouri running back Tyler Badie speaks exclusively to Sky Sports' Cameron Hogwood as he awaits his NFL Draft fate; he talks his love of Looney Tunes, growing up in New Orleans, going to the Junior Olympics and why he's "the most versatile player in college football".
Friday 29 April 2022 19:06, UK
Let us cut to the chase. Tyler Badie loves the Looney Tunes, his favourite being Tasmanian devil on the admission he "acts just like that". Now, the story could probably end there as a say-no-more insight into a high-energy, room-invigorating beacon of underrated fun, but there is more to him.
Minutes before sitting down to chat it crops up on the running back's social media that he has just purchased a pair of personalised Jordan 3 sneakers. The design? You guessed it.
Goodbye professional question, hello Bugs Bunny.
"The Looney Tunes was like my favourite show growing up, I call myself The Last Looney Tune so I just got some shoes made from Jada, who also designs shoes for Dak Prescott and some others," he tells Sky Sports.
"I'm just a big sneaker head, I love shoes, I collect shoes a lot. I'm planning to have a big shoe room in my house."
On that theme, Badie promises to break out some Looney Tunes cleats upon entering the NFL, where he vows to keep things 'swaggy' in one of sport's chief fashion capitals.
Were you to quiz Badie's inner circle on how they would sum up the Missouri product, he admits the answers might range from 'neat freak' to 'goofy' to 'doesn't stop talking' before landing in agreement on the overwhelming fun factor.
He is a special human being, an elegant thinker beneath the infectious laughter, a self-proclaimed advocate for simplicity and an unadulterated optimist, who filters in the best of every day and plays every snap with a smile - win or lose.
"I believe in being happy," he said. "Everybody is on the pursuit of happiness, everybody is trying to find happiness but it's a mentality you have to have.
"Going in day in day out, being able to take positives out the day, being able to carry that positive energy. At the end of the day I know a lot of people watch me, and keeping that positive energy, I don't want to create any negative energy for people."
The will to maximise everything from the mundane occasions to the touchdown-scoring highs is built on adversity, Badie having grown up in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina.
As a child he watched as his city stood and refused to let disaster strip its signature vibrancy. And has since taken a similar stand.
"At the time of Hurricane Katrina I was five years old, losing your house that young and being in an environment where there's not much stability, you don't know what's going to happen," he said.
"I feel like that's what keeps me happy. I was at a point in my life where I didn't know when I could get my next meal or go outside.
"The debris and air was so toxic that I couldn't go outside because my body wasn't developed enough. Being in that environment taught me to be grateful for what I do have and being able to get out of that situation when a lot of people weren't fortunate enough to make it out, I take it with a grain of salt.
"I feel like I'm very blessed and in a different situation and have a different mindset on life to what a lot of people do."
He vaguely recalls the likes of Drew Brees, Deuce McAllister and Sean Payton coming out into the community to offer support to those hit the hardest, remembering the Saints as the "biggest driving force" within New Orleans at the time.
"We didn't really have much, they were bringing people to sleep in the Superdome, they were coming out in the community helping people, giving people money, just being an outlet and a voice to make sure people were okay.
"Sometimes you just wanted to hear somebody's voice to make sure you were okay. Adversity doesn't' last long and I feel like that's a good thing they preached to the community."
The experience and the response lives with him today; as far as outlining his footballing 'why?' goes, pre-Draft interviews with NFL teams ought to have been a breeze.
"Being able to come through the situation to where I'm in, feeling like every game I'm fighting for my life, it's war," he says.
"People want to take what you have, being able to be in a game and be able to maintain what you have and getting your chip on your shoulder to where nobody is going to take what I have to offer. I kept that mindset to keep that 'dawg' mentality."
He channels that 'why?' through an every-down intensity out of the backfield.
Tasmanian devil comparisons might have been too colloquial for official scouting reports, but the sentiment could have been easily implied when describing a gyrating dual-threat cut from the modern running back cloth.
Badie can slalom through a skinny B gap, he can swat a would-be tackler as an open-field runner, he can hover into the slot and showcase a intricate toolbox of route patterns.
Having sat behind Larry Rountree for three seasons at Mizzou, he rewarded his own patience in 2021 with 1,934 yards and 18 total touchdowns from scrimmage, his 1,604 rushing yards marking the most by an SEC running back since 2018 and his 57 forced missed tackles second in the SEC only to Brian Robinson Jr.
"I always say I'm the most versatile player in college football," he explained. "I can catch the ball, I had 54 receptions last year, over 1,000 receiving yards in my career.
"Went and dominated the SEC, led the SEC in rushing touchdowns and all-purpose yards, it's like there are really no flaws in my game and I just feel like it's out there on tape. People are going to see it for what it is. There are 32 teams out there and all I need is one opportunity."
The 22-year-old likens his game to that of the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Jones or Carolina Panthers' Christian McCaffrey, two of the league's premier pass-catching runners.
"Aaron Jones has the same frame as me but he runs tough, he runs outside, he catches the ball," he continued. "That's what I want to model my game after, just being a versatile back, all areas of the game.
"And Christian McCaffrey, any one-on-one situation you know you're going to win that situation so being able to just take advantage of one-on-one opportunities I know I'm going to get a lot in the NFL."
"I believe nobody can guard me in one-on-one situations. That's my pitch really. Being unguardable."
Such is the pride he takes in his offering as a receiving threat, Badie spent the majority of his spring workouts last year practicing his footwork and releases with the team's wideouts.
"I pretty much mastered the idea of being a running back, but the biggest thing was getting the footwork down," he said.
"A lot of times it's about body control, dropping your hips, run cuts and not wasting too much time in routes, that's what I kind of leaned on more because I know in the NFL I would have to play running back and in the slot, and being multiple positions I feel is just helpful for any programme."
With that comes runaway speed, evidenced by Badie's 4.45 time in the 40-yard dash at this year's Scouting Combine, which he assures could have been quicker had he not clipped his heel around the 30-yard mark. In Badie fashion, though, he came away happy enough.
Before football, track had been Badie's forte. And before track, it had been lacrosse during the time his family lived in Baltimore after Katrina had forced them out of New Orleans.
"I give all my credit to my dad, he was always like 'run track run track!', I wasn't a fan of track because I hate being tired and exhausted," Badie said.
"I went to the Junior Olympics three times growing up and not a lot of people know that, so I was pretty fast! It was my dad putting me out there saying I could run and that it would translate to football. The hardest thing was keeping me awake because I was going from track to basketball to football!
"I have a funny story actually, I was coming into the prelims and was ranked like No 2 but I was really young and hot-headed. I went in and said to my dad 'I'm going to set a record in 400m'.
"I'm nine or 10 years old and I take off sprinting and I'm in first place, the last 150m everybody passed me so I came in last. My dad was so mad!"
It was upon moving to Memphis after junior year in high school when football took precedence, Badie happy to consider himself contributor to a rising Tennessee athletics scene while welcoming the accompanying Titans growth in recent years.
In fact, he would not object to a backfield partnership with resident steamroller Derrick Henry.
"I feel like we'd be a good thunder and lightning matchup!" he says. "He can go out there and do his 30 carries and go ahead and run through a couple of people and then I come in and run past.
"I think we would complement each other very well. And being in Tennessee, no income tax, you know what I mean?" he adds.
Badie is multi-faceted in all walks of life. He details the importance of putting aside time to look after his mental health and helping others to do the same, while he affords himself the chance to joke about how many Looney Tunes Jordans a tax-free Tennessee would allow him to buy.
He describes being star-struck at the sight of Reggie Wayne and Maurice Jones-Drew at the Scouting Combine, and his face lights up at the prospect of playing overseas in London, at which point he asks for recommendations on trainer stores.
With him comes an attentiveness and appreciation for the challenges in life, and the endless supply of big-kid energy and positivity to galvanise a locker room. Perhaps all of the above go hand-in-hand.
He is a ready-made fan favourite that beckons as a Draft steal.
That's not quite all, folks. Now might be just the start.
