More than any other sport, American football can be a family affair. Whether it be the Manning family or the Ryans, many NFL greats can point to other generations that have been involved in football.
However, one family seems to have etched its name into the NFL history books as much as any other, and that’s the Matthews family. The Matthews’ have had seven members play in the NFL, many of whom had had all-time great careers.
After a strong 10-year career with the Green Bay Pakcers, Clay Matthews III signed with the Los Angeles Rams this offseason. As luck would have it, the Rams and the Cleveland Browns, who his dad Clay Matthews Jr. played for, were scheduled to face off this season in Week 3. So in what was a cool moment for the family, the Browns decided to use the occasion to honor Matthews Jr. at halftime.
Matthews Jr. spent 16 of his 19-year career as a Browns linebacker, totaling 1,430 combined tackles and 62 sacks in Cleveland alone. The Browns honored him at halftime of their matchup with the Rams, inducting him into the Browns ring of honor. Matthews Jr. is the 17th player inducted into the ring of honor, the first of which not to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Although Matthews III prepared a pre-recorded message, he said he was excited for his dad and their entire to get the chance to celebrate his storied career, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“It was awesome to see,” the younger Matthews said. “I think it was a pretty fun event this weekend for the Matthews family. Of course, I wasn’t able to take part in it, but to be out there and see his name put along some of Cleveland’s all-time greats, it was pretty remarkable to see.”
Considering Matthews III and the Rams were in the midst of a close game with the Browns, he did not get to see the entire ceremony honoring his father. He is excited to watch the tape of it though:
“I’m excited to see him. I’m excited to see his speech, which obviously I didn’t get to see,” Clay III said. “I get to go see about 20 of them right now and I’m looking forward to it.”
Matthews III may be headed to the Hall of Fame himself. He has already recorded 503 combined tackles and 87.5 sacks in just 10 years while winning a Super Bowl with the Packers.
His uncle and Matthews Jr.’s brother Bruce is the lone Hall of Fame inductee in the family. Bruce spent 19 years as an offensive lineman with the then Houston Oilers and now Tennessee Titans.
Although it may have not spoiled the night, Matthews III had a large role in the Rams 20-13 victory over the Browns. He finished the nights with three solo tackles, two quarterback hits, one pass defended and one forced fumble.
Despite already having a 10-year career under his belt, it seems that the Matthews longevity genes have made it to Matthews III because he has yet to slow down.
