For Matthews Clan, N.F.L. Is All in the FamilyBy JOHN BRANCH
Brodie Matthews may or may not become part of an unprecedented fourth generation of N.F.L. players from his family. He is only 2 months old.
“We’re going to try to get him something a little more noble than running into somebody for a living,” said his grandfather, Clay Matthews Jr.
No family has infiltrated the league the way the Matthewses have. They might be considered the Mannings for the head-knocking set. For now, five Matthews men have played in the N.F.L., bridging three generations and including the current linebacker Clay Matthews III, whose Packers (11-6) will take the field against the Falcons (13-3) on Saturday in an N.F.C. divisional playoff game. More may be on the way shortly. Odds are decent that Brodie will join them in 2033 or so.
“You know, there’s a Lord in the world that blesses you sometimes,” said Clay Matthews Sr., a defensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1950s.
The patriarch cannot quite explain how it is that four of his progeny followed him to the N.F.L., but he believes the numbers will grow. When Matthews Sr. was born 82 years ago, he weighed 10 pounds 4 ounces, he said, same as his newly arrived great-grandson.
“Are you asking me if it’s something I did?” he said. “No, it’s nothing I did. I’m just thankful to have them.”
Matthews Sr. and his late wife, Daisy, had five children. Among them were Clay Matthews Jr. and Bruce Matthews, who each played 19 seasons in the N.F.L. and combined to reach 18 Pro Bowls. Clay Jr. played linebacker, mostly for the Cleveland Browns. Bruce was an offensive lineman for the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
Each of those sons spawned another N.F.L. player roughly in his own mold. Clay Matthews III is in his second year with the Packers. One of the game’s best players — on Thursday he was named the N.F.L.’s defensive player of the year by Sporting News — Matthews III is recognized for his tirelessness on the field and the stringy hair that hangs from his helmet.
On the other side of the family, Bruce Matthews’s burly batch of Texas linemen includes Kevin, an undrafted rookie this season who made the Titans and started their last game at center.
According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, only two other families have had three generations of N.F.L. players, but neither had five family members play in the league. Only the Nessers had more family members in the league than the Matthews family, with six brothers playing in the early 1920s — five for the Columbus Panhandles in 1921, the year before the American Professional Football Association was renamed the N.F.L...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/sports/football/15matthews.html?_r=1&hp
