Casey Christopher Matthews (born January 16, 1989) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

. He was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in the fourth round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York ...

. He played college football at

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. He is the brother of

Clay Matthews III William Clay Matthews III (born May 14, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was an outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). The six-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro played primarily with t ...

High school career

Matthews attended

Oaks Christian School Oaks Christian School (OCS) is a co-educational, college-preparatory, non-denominational Christian school serving grades 5–12. Oaks Christian School is located on in Westlake Village, Los Angeles County, California. The school was established ...

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vil ...

, where he played for the Oaks Christian Lions

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

team. During his junior year, he recorded 132

tackle Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...

s and four

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in t ...

s. As a senior, he recorded 158 tackles, ten sacks, and two

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s. The Oak Christian Lions posted a 15-0 record as the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have ...

(CIF) Division III state champions and finished as the sixth-ranked team in the ''

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'' national rankings. As both a junior and senior, Matthews was named an all-Tri Valley League player, defensive player of the year, and all-county player.Casey Matthews
GoDucks.com. Retrieved June 5, 2009. Considered a three-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

, Matthews was listed as the No. 17 inside linebacker in the nation in 2007. He chose Oregon over offers from

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the U ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

and Ole Miss.

College career

Matthews attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

where he studied

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

. As a true freshman in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, Matthews saw action in the first 11 games including one start against

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

. He recorded 18 tackles including 11 solo. After suffering a shoulder injury late in the season, he did not play in the game against

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

or in the

2007 Sun Bowl The 2007 Brut Sun Bowl, part of the 2007-08 NCAA football bowl games season, was played on December 31, 2007, at Sun Bowl Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, El Paso, between the South Florida Bulls and the Oregon Ducks. The Duck ...

. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

he played in all 13 games and recorded 67 tackles, including 13 tackles for loss and two sacks. Matthews compiled a career-high of nine tackles three times, against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. He finished as the team's sixth-leading tackler and third in terms of tackles for loss, with 13.0 for 44 yards. ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includ ...

'' included him among their "120 Players To Know" and wrote that he is "fundamentally sound, he diagnoses plays well and has a knack for filling the proper lane, a couple of keys to being a successful inside linebacker."120 Players You Need To Know
. ''

''. April 9, 2009. Matthews participated in the

2011 BCS National Championship Game The 2011 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game was a college football bowl game to determine the national champion of the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season. The finale of the 2010–2011 Bowl Championship Series was p ...

, where Oregon lost to Auburn, 22–19. Matthews recorded a forced fumble against Heisman Trophy winner,

Cam Newton Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He has played for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Super Cam", he is the ...

, which led to a game-tying score late in the fourth quarter. Matthews finished his college career at the

with 50 games played, 245 tackles, nine sacks and four interceptions.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Matthews was projected to be drafted in the fourth round of the

Philadelphia Eagles

Matthews was selected by the

in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. He was signed to a four-year contract on July 27, 2011. He opened the

2011 NFL season The 2011 NFL season was the 92nd regular season of the National Football League and the 46th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Thursday, September 8, 2011, with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay defeating the Super Bowl XLIV champion ...

as the Eagles' starting middle linebacker. He became the Eagles starting nickel-linebacker before the Eagles Week 14 game at Miami. He recorded his first career sack in that same game.

Minnesota Vikings

Matthews was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent on March 24, 2015. He sustained a hip labrum injury that required surgery and was placed on injured reserve.

Personal life

Matthews was born in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named Zelzah by settlers in 1908, the ...

to parents Clay and Leslie Matthews. His father Clay Matthews, Jr. played football as an All-American at USC and had a 19-year professional football career in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

. His grandfather

Clay Matthews, Sr. William Clay Matthews Sr. (August 1, 1928 – March 23, 2017) was an American football tackle and patriarch of the Matthews family of football players. Matthews played for four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, the first in 1950 ...

and uncle Bruce Matthews both played in the NFL, as well as his brother

. He also has cousins involved in football: Kevin Matthews was a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, Jake Matthews is an offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons and Mike Matthews was a

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. Casey married his high school sweetheart Alyssa Grillo on July 14, 2012. They have two children.

References

External links

*
Oregon Ducks bio

NFL Combine profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Casey 1989 births Living people American football linebackers Matthews football family Minnesota Vikings players Oregon Ducks football players People from Agoura Hills, California People from Northridge, Los Angeles Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California