Tragic Details About TimTheTatman

Tim "TimTheTatman" Batar is a Twitch streamer and YouTube personality known for his full sleeves of arm tattoos — which led his college professor to give him the moniker that would eventually become his screen name — and his love of the NFL. He started his channel back in 2012, mostly playing shooters before eventually branching out into a variety of different genres. Tim started out streaming while also working 40 hours a week in landscaping, but eventually committed to streaming full-time and has now managed to amass over 6.7 million followers.

Tim generally tries to promote a positive atmosphere on his channel (even when being hunted by a stream sniper), running several high profile charity streams and regularly reminding his viewers to "tell somebody you love them." In fact, he has a compelling theory about why some people are watching him. He suggested in an interview with Leo Edit that some of his viewers might like him because he's not as good at the games he plays as some other streamers, which makes them feel better about their own playing and makes him more relatable. This has allowed him to foster a community with whom he has become comfortable. Perhaps that's why he's been able to open up to his audience about a few of the more tragic details in his past.

TimTheTatman spoke on a stream about a "tattoo artist react" video in which he reports them describing his chest tattoo as looking like "a nipple monster [which is] pinching [his] nipples." The tattoo in question covers most of Tim's chest and features the face of a roaring bear with the mane of a lion and the wings, legs, and claws of an eagle. (Appropriately, Tim has referred to this creation as "a bear lion eagle.") While Tim clearly got a kick out of the artist's comments, the remarks about his chest also sparked a much deeper conversation.

He explained that he had really bad "nip anxiety" in highschool. "I don't think you understand," Tim explains in the video. "I wore a tank top; a really tight, large, or medium, tank top ... And then I would wear a white t-shirt over that, and then I would wear my polo shirt." That might seem pretty extreme, but apparently there were times where his anxiety over his "puffy" chest drove him to even more desperate measures. "One day, it got so bad and I got so sensitive about them that I put duct tape on them."

He's come a long way, stating that he didn't care much about it at the age of 30. However, he also expressed concern that his son might go through similar anxieties about his body.

It's easy to think of streamers and other gaming content creators as people who just get paid to make video games. It's a regular comment you see pop up from viewers when they see their favorite content creators talking about needing time off. TimTheTatman got a bit heated during a stream when he was attempting to explain that, while it may appear this way from the outside, it simply isn't the case. In fact, occasional time off is the only reason he's been able to perform consistently over the years.

"I value my time off," he explained, "and I am 100% confident that me taking those breaks has made me able to stream for [now] nine years."

Tim argued that "burnout is a real thing in Twitch streaming and content creation." He talked about his time working in landscaping and explained that he knows what it's like to work 40 to 60 hours weeks doing hard labor. "If you do physical labor, I feel for you man," he said. "It's not an easy thing. Flip-side of that: where I'm at now? This is a hard job in its own right."

Tim argued that having time to spend with his family is his top priority, getting visibly emotional and wiping tears away from his eyes. "I'm thinking about my son; wanting to spend time with him," Tim said. "That's kind of the bottom line."

TimTheTatman has talked a lot about the different jobs he's held down over the years, but there was one Twitch stream where he talked about a job he didn't get: working at Taco Bell. He opened the conversation in defense of the fast food restaurant, saying, "Do not disrespect Taco Bell, alright. I love Taco Bell." However, the sentiment quickly turned sour when the mention of the restaurant chain reminded him of a time when he was down on his luck. 

He continued. "That said, you know, if they ever want to do a 'hashtag-ad' with me, there is a part of me that is tempted to say 'you're not qualified,' because I was not qualified when I was younger to work for them." Tim went on to explain that he viewed this job as a "last resort" in a time where he didn't have many options. He didn't go into much detail as to why he needed the job so badly, but did express how disheartened he was when he discovered he wasn't qualified.

He summed everything up by saying, "Long story short, I didn't get hired at Taco Bell and, you know, look at me now ... and I still love to eat there, just to be clear." Things may have worked out in the long run for the streamer, but it's apparent that this rejection came at a time when he desperately needed the work.

One of TimTheTatman's viewers submitted a question in a stream asking how Tim kept his motivation to keep going with Twitch back in the days when he had almost no viewers. This seemed to strike a chord with Tim, and it led to him recounting the period of time when he almost quit streaming forever. 

"I'll never forget it," said Tim. "'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.' I was playing, I was probably averaging about 300 to 500 viewers, maybe 300 to 700 on a good day, where it was going really well... 'Call of Duty: Ghost' came out ... I get on to do my big 24-hour stream after my work ... and I had 20 viewers." 

He went on to explain that he had finally grown used to having hundreds of viewers at once, and the drop from what he had come to consider "the norm" shook his confidence. He also said that he now understands that a drop like that is normal with new release titles, since more people are online playing the game. Even so, the moment briefly wrecked the streamer's confidence, and almost led to the premature end of his career.

There's a silver lining here, however. This experience seems to have changed the way Tim thinks about streaming. "The thing that kept me going was a mindset," he said. "And my mindset was, I'm not going to worry about the, you know, 680 viewers that I was averaging that aren't here. I'm going to try and focus on the 20 viewers that are here."

In October 2023, a heartbreaking death caused TimTheTatMan to take a break from Twitch streaming. Tim made a post on October 9 explaining to his fans that he'd gotten a call about his stepmom being in the hospital. He said that his stepmom's health didn't look good, so he planned to take an indefinite break from streaming to go be with his family. The comments on that post were quickly flooded with positive messages from Tim's fans supporting his decision to put streaming on the backburner for the moment. Tim didn't say what illness his stepmom was struggling with, but everyone hoped she had a speedy recovery.

got a call from my dad this morning- my step mom is in the hospital and it's not looking good

going to be with him/family for a few days- not sure when I'll be back

thoughts and prayers are appreciated

— timthetatman👑 (@timthetatman) October 9, 2023

Tim gave his fans a tragic update just four days after announcing his streaming break. In another post on X, Tim wrote, "thank you all for all the love and support over these last couple of days... sadly my step mom passed away on Tuesday and I've spent the last couple days out here with my dad and family." He added, "thank you again for everything and I'll see y'all soon." Fans, fellow streamers, and even some gaming news outlets left thousands of comments sending their condolences to Tim and his family.

TimTheTatMan has been around since 2012, so Tim's fans have been there for some big highs and stark lows over the years. Whether it's dealing with a family illness or preparing to be a father, there's almost no part of Tim's life that he doesn't share with his fans. Of course, he also doesn't always get the chance to prepare a message for his fans. On one tragic occasion, Tim got hit with a piece of devastating news in the middle of his stream.

Tim's fans were caught off-guard when he had to abruptly end a stream in early 2019. Tim's wife gave him some bad news, and he instantly quit his game and shut off his feed. Fans ran to Reddit to speculate about what might have caused the sudden shift in Tim's usual plans, but after taking the time he needed to handle his real life, Tim hopped onto social media to let his fans know what was going on. "Sorry for the abrupt ending," Tim wrote on X. "Got news my aunt passed away. Shocked. Thank you much for all the love/well wishes. With family now."

Incredibly, Tim still streamed and even played in an "Apex Legends" tournament that same day. Another streamer might have felt pressure from viewers to get back online as soon as possible, but Tim had other reasons for playing. In a follow up post, Tim explained that getting into his usual routine was one of the ways he dealt with grief.

TimTheTatMan's fans were shocked to learn that the streamer was going through some strange health issues in 2024. Tim didn't give his fans an exhaustively detailed account of what was happening with him, but he did explain some of his symptoms and his treatment. On his stream, Tim told his fans that he was experiencing some problems with inflammation in his brain. According to Tim, the issue was getting serious enough that it was affecting his speech: "The front lobe is so inflamed that it's affecting my impulses, like with speech and stuff. Words will just enter my head, and I'll feel like I have to say the words. And it's like a mental battle."

If that sounds unpleasant, wait until you hear about the treatment Tim took to manage the issue. He explained that to help with the inflammation he was getting infusions of NAD+, a peptide delivered via IV drip that's become increasingly popular among celebrities in recent years. Tim said that the injections helped reduce his symptoms but that the process of getting them was extremely unpleasant. "It's just, like, aggressive. I don't know what else to say about it. It hurts," Tim told his fans. He said that the faster the infusion goes, the more it hurts, and trying to go really quickly one day caused him so much pain he almost vomited. On average, Tim said his infusions took four hours and left him completely wiped out by the end. Tim's fans wished him well and hoped that he wouldn't have to keep the infusions going for long. He hasn't said much about the infusions since, and fans assume he's doing much better now. 

Of all the tragic things that TimTheTatMan has faced in his life, his mom's death was the hardest. Back in 2015, Tim had an extremely personal stream on the anniversary of his mom's death, during which he opened up about her story and his experience dealing with her loss. Tim began that stream by saying, "I want to tell this because there may be people who have lost someone or this may strike a chord with someone, or maybe you'll learn something, I don't know." Tim explained that he was a teenager when his mom died, and she was pretty young herself. Tim's mom died at 46, and he explained that it was because of a range of health issues, including diabetes, multiple heart attacks, and on ongoing struggle with drinking.

Losing his mom changed Tim's life forever. He was completely devastated by her death, of course, but watching her health struggles also changed his relationship with his own health. Years after the emotional stream where he shared his mom's story, Tim told his fans that his mom's death caused him to start a health journey. "I considered it a wake-up call," Tim said on his stream. "I'm not working out trying to lose weight because I want to be ... I'm not trying to be good looking. I'm trying to be healthy for my wife and son." As tragic as his mom's death was, Tim still managed to come out on the other side of his grief and resolve to be stronger than before.

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