Pascal Matla
{{Short description|Dutch gridiron football player (born 1981)}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
|image=
|number=
|position=Center
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1981|2|4}}
|birth_place=Leidschendam, Netherlands
|height_ft = 6
|height_in = 5
|weight_lbs = 310
|college=Eastern Illinois
|pastteams=
- Amsterdam Admirals ({{AMS season|2007}})
}}
Pascal Matla (born February 4, 1981) is a former American football player.
Career
Matla grew up in Voorburg, Netherlands. As a youth, he attended a media day for the Amsterdam Admirals and had the opportunity to meet some of the players. Matla later recalled, "One of the players told me I was a big kid and told me I should play. So I went home and started looking for information on where to play."{{cite news|author=Dan Renick|title=Different world: Eastern's starting center is in transition after his big move|newspaper=Daily Eastern News|date=2004-09-29|url=http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2004/09/29/Sports/Different.World-735276.shtml|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709013533/http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2004/09/29/Sports/Different.World-735276.shtml|archive-date=2011-07-09}} At age 17, he joined a club in Zoetermeer that was part of a flag football league. At age 18, he joined the full-contact division, and at age 19, he played football in Saarland, Germany. He traveled to Tampa, Florida to play with 36 European players in an exhibition game before the Super Bowl. While in Tampa, he learned of college football, and a tape of the Europeans' game was seen by the offensive line coach for Eastern Illinois University. He was offered a scholarship and enrolled at the school. Matla joined the Eastern Illinois football team in the summer of 2001 for workouts and drills and played for the team from 2002 to 2005 and was selected as a second-team All-Ohio Valley Conference player in 2004.{{cite news|title=Matla signs with NFL Europe's Admirals|newspaper=Journal-Gazette (Illinois)|date=2007-03-09|url=http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2007/03/10/sports/sports007.txt}}{{cite news|title=Culture shock: From Holland to Charleston, EIU's Matla has come a long way - and made plenty of friends in the process|newspaper=Journal-Gazette (Illinois)|date=2005-11-11|url=http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2005/11/11/sports/sports%20002.txt}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Matla attended training camp with the New Orleans Saints in the summer of 2006, but was released before the regular season began. He played for the Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europa in 2007.{{cite news|title=Pascal Matla is te groot voor voetbal|newspaper=DePers|url=http://www.depers.nl/sport/65789/Pascal-Matla-is-te-groot-voor-voetbal.html|date=2007-05-24|access-date=2010-04-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719074125/http://www.depers.nl/sport/65789/Pascal-Matla-is-te-groot-voor-voetbal.html|archive-date=2011-07-19}}{{cite news|title=Dromen in de polder van grote NFL|publisher=de Volkskrant|url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/sport/article422863.ece/Dromen_in_de_polder_van_grote_NFL|date=2007-05-07}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.justsportsstats.com/footballstatsindex.php?player_id=matlapas001 Stats Crew profile]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matla, Pascal}}
Category:Amsterdam Admirals players
Category:New Orleans Saints players
Category:American football centers
Category:Eastern Illinois Panthers football players