By Mark Ellis –
Bruce Matthews grew up in a football family. His dad played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1950s as a tackle and defensive end. His brother Clay Matthews Jr, was a linebacker in the NFL from 1978 to 1996, playing for the Browns and Falcons.
“I really enjoyed athletics and loved competition,” Bruce told God Reports. “I really aspired to be like my older brother Clay and my dad, Clay Sr.
There was one hitch in his plan to play football. “When I was in fourth grade and I went to try out for the tackle football team (Pop Warner), the weight limit was 100 pounds, and I weighed 125. They said, ‘Hey, we love you. We’d like to have you on the team, but you’re too big.’”
He was effectively excluded from playing tackle football until ninth grade. In the meantime, he nurtured a love for baseball.
At first, his dream was to be a baseball catcher in the major leagues. “I was a singles- hitting catcher who blocked the view of the umpire on low strikes and wasn’t very fast. There’s not much of a market for that in the major leagues.”
The religious influence in his home was on the light side. “We knew about God. We didn’t have a lot of conversations about him, nor did we go to church very often. We talked a lot about things like integrity and honesty, and when you shake a man’s hand, you don’t need to sign a contract to show that you’re going to stand by your word.”
Living in Arcadia, California, in the shadow of the Rose Bowl, his sights returned to football, and he was swept up in the adulation for his brother, then playing for USC.
“USC was in their heyday then, and we went to all the home games and I loved it. I was of the mindset that if there was any way they would allow me to play, that was where I wanted to go. And so I went to USC, and it was just an amazing experience.”
His freshman year under Head Coach John Robinson in 1979 was eye-opening. “We had six future first-round (NFL) draft picks just in the offensive line room. I remember thinking, wow, these guys are really good. I saw what was working for them and tried to implement it into my game.
“The practices were harder than the games because we were so talented. I had the privilege of playing with Anthony Muñoz and Brad Budde, Keith Van Horne, Roy Foster, and Don Mosebar. We were all first-rounders. Charles White won the Heisman, Marcus Allen won the Heisman.”
The defense was formidable. “Our defensive secondary was crazy! The two safeties were Ronnie Lott and Dennis Smith; Joey Browner was one of the corners. And Jeff Fisher — who later would be my head coach for the Titans — was the other corner. So it was really a cool time.”
Matthews had a deep respect for John Robinson. “You had to toe the line with Coach Robinson; he was always about putting the team first. I learned so much. He was the type coach I wanted to be like.”
In his sophomore year at USC, he met his future wife, Carrie, who was his “one and only girlfriend.”
On two consecutive weekends as his college days ended, he graduated, got drafted by the NFL, and got married.
In the NFL draft of 1983, he was the ninth pick in the first round by the Houston Oilers, where he went on to play until 1996.
“We totally reworked the roster and had a lot of young guys coming in. I was doing everything I think should to bring me contentment and peace and happiness in this life. And I thought, this is cool. I don’t have to go to class, and I get to play football, and they pay me pretty good, but it wasn’t what I anticipated it to be.”
In his first game in the Astrodome, the world’s first domed sports stadium, they played the Green Bay Packers. On the Friday before the game, Mike “Mongo” Stensrud, invited Bruce to a player’s Bible study.
“It was cool. I really hadn’t been exposed to church, and these guys were good guys, guys that I liked, and they talked about a relationship they had with God, and I had no idea what that meant, but it was appealing to me.”
A local pastor, Greg Headington, led the study, and began to disciple Bruce in the basics of the Christian faith. At the time, Headington was associate pastor at First Presbyterian Houston.
In his rookie season, Bruce began to follow Jesus. “I prayed to receive Christ, and I prayed multiple times since then, just to make sure,” he noted. “I could see why Jesus is important and why I should follow him and put my faith in Him.
“I tried to apply the principles and the techniques of my college experience to my faith life. You do these things, you don’t do these things. You pray and you go to church and maybe give a few bucks, and it really was like a legalistic deal where I had nothing in terms of the relationship, but I felt like I was doing what God wanted me to do.”
“That was where I was at for probably the first 10 or 12 years of my career.”
Remarkably durable, Bruce played 19 seasons in the NFL, the most ever by an offensive lineman at the time. He played for the Tennessee Oilers / Tennessee Titans from 1997–2001.
Over his career, he played in 296 games, the most ever by an offensive lineman when he retired, still among the top in NFL history. Fourteen times he was a Pro Bowl selection (1988–2001) – tied for the most in NFL history then (shared with Merlin Olsen).
Nine times he was First-team All-Pro and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
He is regarded as one of the greatest offensive linemen in NFL history.
After his retirement from football, he got involved with a ministry called Search, which focuses on relational evangelism. “We come alongside men and create a safe place for them to ask their questions about God and the big questions in life. It’s the most rewarding experience I’ve had in my life to see guys lives change when they include God in their life.
“I trust God more and more. It works a lot better when God’s in charge.”
To learn more about a personal relationship with God, go here
To know more about Search, go here
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