Clay Matthews Jr.
{{Short description|American football player (born 1956)}}
{{about|Clay Matthews Jr., who played from 1978 until 1996|his son|Clay Matthews III}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Clay Matthews Jr.
| image = Browns CM 57.png
| caption = Matthews with the Cleveland Browns in 1984
| number = 57
| position = Linebacker
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|3|15}}
| birth_place = Palo Alto, California, U.S.
| high_school = New Trier {{nowrap|(Winnetka, Illinois)}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lbs = 245
| college = USC
| draftyear = 1978
| draftround = 1
| draftpick = 12
| pastteams = * Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|1978}}–{{NFL Year|1993}})
- Atlanta Falcons ({{NFL Year|1994}}–{{NFL Year|1996}})
| highlights = * Second-team All-Pro (1984)
- 4× Pro Bowl (1985, 1987–1989)
- 4× NFL combined tackles leader (1978, 1979, 1981, 1984)
- Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor
- Cleveland Browns Legends
- National champion (1974)
- 2× First-team All-Pac-8 (1976, 1977)
| statlabel1 = Tackles
| statvalue1 = 1,595
| statlabel2 = Sacks
| statvalue2 = 69.5
| statlabel3 = Interceptions
| statvalue3 = 16
| statlabel4 = Touchdowns
| statvalue4 = 1
| pfr = MattCl00
}}
William Clay Matthews Jr. (born March 15, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Cleveland Browns and the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round of the 1978 NFL draft by the Browns and played in 278 games over 19 NFL seasons, which initially ranked him at number 17 among most games played{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} (currently at number 21, see List of NFL players by games played).[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/g_career.htm NFL Career Games Leaders] Matthews had 1,561 tackles in his career, unofficially the third most in NFL history trailing Jessie Tuggle and Ray Lewis.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220923/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&year_min=1920&year_max=2012&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&draft_round_min=0&draft_round_max=99&league_id=NFL&team_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos_is_qb=Y&pos_is_rb=Y&pos_is_wr=Y&pos_is_te=Y&pos_is_rec=Y&pos_is_t=Y&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_ol=Y&pos_is_dt=Y&pos_is_de=Y&pos_is_dl=Y&pos_is_ilb=Y&pos_is_olb=Y&pos_is_lb=Y&pos_is_cb=Y&pos_is_s=Y&pos_is_db=Y&pos_is_k=Y&pos_is_p=Y&c1stat=tackles_solo&c1comp=gt&c1val=1000&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=tackles_solo NFL Career Tackles Leaders]
Matthews is the father of Clay Matthews III, an All-Pro linebacker and Super Bowl Champion, and Casey Matthews, a former American football linebacker; brother of Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews.
Early life and college
Matthews was born into a football family. His father, Clay Matthews Sr., played for the NFL in the 1950s. In 1974, Matthews graduated from New Trier East High School in Winnetka, Illinois. He and his younger brother, Bruce, both attended college at the University of Southern California, where both played on the USC Trojans football team.
Professional career
Matthews was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 12th pick in the first round of the 1978 NFL draft. He was a four-time selection for the Pro Bowl with the Browns and was a cornerstone of the defense for well over a decade. In 1984, Matthews recorded 12.0 sacks. He was present at some infamous Browns playoff losses during the 1980s, known as Red Right 88 (1981), The Drive (1987), and The Fumble (1988), which stopped those Browns teams from potentially advancing to the Super Bowl. One of his most memorable moments as a Brown was in a playoff game against the Bills on January 6, 1990. With only seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Bills at the Browns' 11-yard line, Matthews intercepted a pass (at the one-yard line) thrown by Bills quarterback Jim Kelly to seal a Cleveland victory. After the 1993 season, Matthews signed with the Atlanta Falcons. In 1995, at the age of 39, Matthews started all 16 games for the Falcons and set a record as the oldest player to record a sack at the age of 40 years, 282 days.
Matthews was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week twice on the Cleveland Browns (Week 12, 1984 and Week 9, 1991). Matthews and his son, Clay III, are the only father-son tandem to be named Defensive Player of the Week in the NFL.[http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-1/LB-Clay-Matthews-Named-NFC-Defensive-Player-Of-The-Week/077215d7-e930-4afc-917e-0d06822e9545 LB Clay Matthews Named NFC Defensive Player Of The Week] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924080146/http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-1/LB-Clay-Matthews-Named-NFC-Defensive-Player-Of-The-Week/077215d7-e930-4afc-917e-0d06822e9545 |date=September 24, 2015 }}, Packers.com, September 22, 2010, Accessed December 9, 2012.
In 2022, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Matthews to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2022.{{cite web |url= https://profootballresearchers.com/hall-of-very-good-2022.html |title= PFRA's Hall of Very Good Class of 2022 |author=Professional Football Researchers Association|access-date=July 19, 2022}}
Life after pro football
Matthews resides in Agoura Hills, California. He serves as defensive coordinator at Oaks Christian High School, a co-ed private school in Westlake Village, California which his son Casey attended. Matthews was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, along with his brother Bruce. Matthews also opened a Pontiac car dealership in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid in 1992; it currently operates under new ownership{{vague|date=October 2019}} as Sims Buick GMC.
Matthews and his brother Bruce competed with members of their family on the popular TV game show Family Feud, hosted by Richard Dawson. The Matthews family won the game, with Matthews being one of two family members to play in the final round. They ended the game with 41 points total but did not take the $10,000 grand prize.
In 2014, Matthews was named Director of Football Operations at Carter High School (Tennessee), where he once served as an assistant coach.{{Cite web|url=http://www.footballscoop.com/high-school-scoop?start=36|title = High School Scoop - Friday February 25, 2022}}
Personal life
{{see also|Matthews family}}
Matthews is married to Leslie Matthews{{vague|date=October 2019}}. They have five children: Jennifer, Kyle, Brian, Clay III, and Casey.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/sports/football/15matthews.html|title=For Matthews Clan, N.F.L. Is All in the Family|last=Branch|first=John|date=2011|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 27, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Clay III and Kyle played football at USC, while Casey was a linebacker for the Oregon Ducks football at the University of Oregon. Clay III was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 2009 NFL draft, while Casey was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2011 NFL draft.Gary Klein, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-27-sp-uscrep27-story.html Trojans get ducks in a row up front], Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2007, Accessed July 3, 2008.
NFL career statistics
=Regular season=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="4"| Tackles ! colspan="3"| Interceptions ! colspan="2"| Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR |
| 1978 | CLE
| 15 || 2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|34 || – || – || 1.0 || 1 || 5 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1979 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || style="background:#cfecec;"|103 || – || – || 2.0 || 1 || 30 || 0 || 0 || 2 | |||||||||
| 1980 | CLE
| 14 || 13 || 83 || – || – || 5.0 || 1 || 6 || 0 || 0 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1981 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || style="background:#cfecec;"|128 || – || – || 5.0 || 2 || 14 || 0 || 0 || 2 | |||||||||
| 1982 | CLE
| 2 || 1 || 11 || – || – || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1983 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || 106 || – || – || 6.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|4 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1984 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || style="background:#cfecec;"|126 || – || – || 12.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1985 | CLE
| 14 || 14 || 88 || – || – || 6.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1986 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || 89 || – || – || 1.0 || 2 || 12 || 0 || 2 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1987 | CLE
| 12 || 12 || 72 || – || – || 2.5 || 3 || 62 || 1 || 0 || 2 | |||||||||
| 1988 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || 101 || – || – || 6.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 | |||||||||
| 1989 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || 113 || – || – || 4.0 || 1 || 25 || 0 || 3 || 2 | |||||||||
| 1990 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || 102 || – || – || 3.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1991 | CLE
| 15 || 15 || 80 || – || – || 6.5 || 1 || 35 || 0 || 3 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1992 | CLE
| 16 || 16 || 111 || – || – || 9.0 || 1 || 6 || 0 || 3 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1993 | CLE
| 16 || 15 || 83 || – || – || 5.5 || 1 || 10 || 0 || 2 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1994 | ATL
| 15 || 15 || 90 || 71 || 19 || 1.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||
| 1995 | ATL
| 16 || 16 || 63 || 49 || 14 || 0.0 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 | |||||||||
| 1996 | ATL
| 15 || 1 || 12 || 11 || 1 || 6.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 0 | |||||||||
| colspan="2"| [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MattCl00.htm Career] || 278 || 248 || 1,595 || 131 || 34 || 82.5 || 16 || 206 || 1 || 27 || 14 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
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{{1974 USC Trojans football navbox}}
{{1978 NFL Draft}}
{{Browns1978DraftPicks}}
{{BrownsFirstPick}}
{{Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor}}
{{Cleveland Browns Legends}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Clay 02}}
Category:American football linebackers
Category:Atlanta Falcons players
Category:Cleveland Browns players
Category:USC Trojans football players
Category:High school football coaches in California
Category:American Conference Pro Bowl players
Category:All-American college football players
Category:New Trier High School alumni
Category:Sportspeople from Euclid, Ohio
Category:Players of American football from Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Category:Sportspeople from Winnetka, Illinois
Category:Players of American football from Palo Alto, California