There are times in a player’s life when they’re rewarded by their peers and fans for everything they did, and last night at halftime of the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Brown game, Cleveland got to do just that.
Clay Mathews Jr (father of current NFL star linebacker Clay Mathews III) was inducted into Cleveland’s ring on honor. In a career that spanned 19 seasons with 2 teams (the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons), Mathews was a league-wide respected force at middle linebacker for his ability against the run and rushing the passer by amassing 1561 tackles in 278 games, ranking him 21st in league history in tackles.
The history
He joins 16 former Browns, and he made history as the only member of the group not in the Hall of Fame. Not yet, anyway. He’s been selected for the fourth year in a row for consideration, so hopefully this will be his year.
To be honored by one of the league’s storied franchises is second only to the Hall of Fame, but it’s more personal as it shows the player or coach how much they were respected and loved by the organization they called home and the fans that cheered them on every week. It’s a moment of pure bliss and a chance to relive the glory years.
For Clay Mathews Jr, he was just happy and honored to be there.
“I was honored,” Matthews said. “I mean, the Browns have a pretty good legacy of players in that group. We lived through that generation of players mostly in the ’60s who were so successful, and to be included in that group is just an honor.
“It seems like they’re doing a pretty good job of picking talent around there, so I’m going to ride that wave. The Browns, even though they had a little hiccup for a while when the team went away and came back, that’s what you think of when you think of the NFL. At least for myself growing up, the Browns, Packers, Bears, those type of teams that were there from long ago. To be included at this level is just a huge honor.”
Always a humble gentleman, Clay Mathews carried himself with a dignity deserving of one of the game’s all-time greats.
Congratulations are in order and let’s hope for a repeat in Canton, Ohio next year.
