Clay Matthews Jr.

Clay Matthews Jr.
refer to caption
Matthews during the 1984 NFL season
No. 57
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1956-03-15) March 15, 1956 (age 68)
Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school:New Trier (Winnetka, Illinois)
College:USC
NFL draft:1978 / round: 1 / pick: 12
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:1,595
Sacks:69.5
Interceptions:16
Touchdowns:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

William Clay Matthews Jr. (born March 15, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Cleveland Browns and the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round of the 1978 NFL draft by the Browns and played in 278 games over 19 NFL seasons, which initially ranked him at number 17 among most games played[citation needed] (currently at number 21, see List of NFL players by games played).[1] Matthews had 1,561 tackles in his career, unofficially the third most in NFL history trailing Jessie Tuggle and Ray Lewis.[2]

He is the father of Clay Matthews III, an All-Pro linebacker and Super Bowl Champion, and Casey Matthews, a former American football linebacker; brother of Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews.