Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers

Whos everyone's favorite Packer player? Mine is Clay Matthews, I'm sure you might agree. I wanted to do a quick profile on my favorite Packer play, Clay Matthews. Keep reading if you want to know the inside scoop on Clay Matthews.

William Clay Matthews III was born May 14, 1986 in Northridge, California into a football dynasty. Clay’s father Clay Matthews Jr. played professional football and holds the record of third most games played 278 games in 19 seasons. Clay Matthews grandfather Clay Mathews Sr. played 4 seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1950s.

Clay Matthews played high school football in Agoura High School but because he was a late bloomer he was physically too small for the game for most of his 4 years and thus was not scouted or recruited by any NCAA Division-I schools. Clay Matthews decided to go to his father’s alma matter and walk-on at the University of Southern California. He sat out the 2004 season with a redshirt despite being offered game time. Clay Matthews insisted on not wasting a year of eligibility for throw away time at the end of the game, a decision that paid off. In 2005 Clay’s hard work paid off and he saw game time in 12 of 13 USC Trojans games, missing only the season opener because of an injury. By 2006 Clay Matthews was given an athletic scholarship and was seeing lots of game time, he played in every game that season and pulled down 15 tackles and a sack.

The 2007 season saw a continuation of the growth and success that Clay Matthews had started in 2006. He played in all 13 games and posted 17 tackles, two forced fumbles and a pass defense. He was also named Special Teams Player of the Year for the 2nd time. As a senior at USC, the Trojan football program had really shaped Clay Matthews into a strong defensive player. Clay Matthews started 10 games and posted 56 tackles. He was also named All-Pac 10 Honors and honorable mention All-American by Pro football weekly.

Clay Matthews was selected in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers and is proud to make his family the second ever to have 3 generations play in the NFL. In September 2010, Matthews was awarded with the NFL's defensive player of the month award and later to the 2011 Pro Bowl NFC roster, which was his second consecutive selection in two years of play. After helping to lead his defensive line to Super Bowl XLV, Matthews missed out on the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award by only two votes.