People like New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton are allowed to share their gun control rhetoric, ignorant lies about gun laws and tell their truth across the social media spectrum with no ramifications.

But what happens when someone speaks a bit of truth on the issue?

Just ask Tyrann Mathieu.

A New Orleans native and current Arizona Cardinals player, Tyrann Mathieu spoke out on FOX Sports radio Sunday after receiving the news of Will Smith’s shooting death. Now, he fears he won’t be able to return to the Big Easy.

“I don’t think I can go back to New Orleans. I don’t think that’s possible,” Mathieu said. “Why? Because I called a spade a spade.”

Mathieu took to Twitter to call out Smith’s murderer, and unlike Sean Payton, he had a very educated, insightful and realistic look at the real problem:

NOLA native Tyrann Mathieu says he knows Will Smith's alleged killer, calls him "a coward": https://t.co/W3pYBUCueI pic.twitter.com/b0O3K8Jb9s

— ESPN (@espn) April 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/ChanseSylvie/status/719599603541086208

On @nflnetwork, @Mathieu_Era shared his plan to put the youth of NOLA on a better path.

🎥 https://t.co/NItieOftoF pic.twitter.com/SaYaE82oFm

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) April 12, 2016

@Mathieu_Era Pointed quote from Tyrann: 'I fly in, and I fly out of town. That's how scared I am. And this is where I come from.'

— New Orleans Advocate (@theadvocateno) April 11, 2016

"#WillSmith was a hero to us. He did so much for the #NewOrleans community. It's a senseless crime, and hits close to home" – @Mathieu_Era

— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) April 10, 2016

Mathieu also joined FOX Sports Radio to talk about it further:

Mathieu told the News he knew Hayes from their high school days, even though they attended different schools. He remembers watching Hayes — who stands 6’4″ — bullying students “at playgrounds, at parks.”

“He’s a big guy…sometimes he would think he could just talk to you any way he wanted.”

“He’s bigger than Will Smith…I can’t understand why he felt the need to shoot him several times,” he said of the suspect, who has been charged with second degree murder and remains in jail on a $1 million bail.

“He left those kids without a father, without their hero,” Mathieu said of Hayes. “I just don’t understand. And that’s why I never go back home.”