Clay Matthews Jr.

Clay Matthews Jr.
	Clay Matthews (left) with his brother Bruce in the mid-1980s
No. 57
Position:	Linebacker
Career information
College:	USC
NFL draft:	1978 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12
Career history
	Cleveland Browns (1978-1993); Atlanta Falcons (1994-1996);
Career highlights and awards
	4× Pro Bowl selection (1985, 1987, 1988, 1989);

Template:Other people3

William Clay Matthews, Jr. (born March 15, 1956 in Palo Alto, California) is a former American football linebacker who played for the Cleveland Browns and the Atlanta Falcons. He played 19 seasons and 278 games in the NFL (16th most in NFL history). Matthews was drafted by the Browns out of the University of Southern California with the 12th pick in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft. Clay was a four time Pro Bowler for Cleveland. He is also the oldest player to record a sack at 40 years, 282 days.

Life after pro football

Matthews resides in Agoura Hills, California. He serves as defensive coordinator at Oaks Christian High School, a coed private school in Westlake Village, California that his son Casey attended. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, along with his brother Bruce. After his retirement, Clay Matthews opened a Pontiac Dealership in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid; Matthews's dealership has closed.

Trivia

Clay and his brother Bruce competed with members of their family on the popular TV game show Family Feud, with Richard Dawson. The Matthews Family won the game, and Clay was one of the two family members to play the final round. One of five questions he was asked in the final round was "What is the ideal age for a U.S. President?". He answered "32". The constitutional requisite age to become President is 35. Clay ended up scoring 41 points total, and the Matthews family did not win the $10,000 grand prize.

Clay appeared to be very frugal because he drove an old Mercury Capri to practice and games. In 1992, he owned a Pontiac car dealership in Euclid, Ohio.

Personal

Clay Matthews' brother Bruce Matthews, who also played at USC, and father Clay Matthews, Sr. were also NFL players. Two of his sons joined the football team at USC, while another joined the football team at the University of Oregon: Kyle Matthews was a safety at USC (2000–03) and Clay Matthews III played linebacker and defensive end at USC (2004–2008). After graduation, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. Casey Matthews currently plays linebacker at Oregon (2007- ).^[1]

References

^ Gary Klein, Trojans get ducks in a row up front, Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2007, Accessed July 3, 2008.

External links

Clay Matthews Profile at USC Legends

[LAT102707-1] Gary Klein, Trojans get ducks in a row up front, Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2007, Accessed July 3, 2008.

[1]