Jacob Thomas Matthews (born February 11, 1992) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

and was drafted by the Falcons sixth overall in the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. Matthews is a member of the Matthews family of football players.

Early life

Matthews attended Elkins High School in Missouri City, where he was a standout

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

for the Elkins Knights

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

team. Matthews was teammates with

D. J. Hayden Derek Sherrard "D. J." Hayden Jr. (June 27, 1990 – November 11, 2023) was an American professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Houston Cougars and was selected ...

. As a senior, he was a first-team all-district and all-greater Houston honoree as his team finished the season with a 9–3 record. Matthews was invited to play in the 2010

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

and also earned 2009 High School All-American honors by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'', and ''

SuperPrep ''Super Prep'' is a former sports magazine that was based in Laguna Beach, California. It was published in 1985 by Allen Wallace, a lawyer. Its main focus is to provide recruiting information on high school football players. In 1987, ''The Boston ...

''. Regarded as a four-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Matthews was listed as the No. 7

prospect in the class of 2010. He chose Texas A&M over offers from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, and

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

College career

As a junior in 2012, Matthews was a first-team

All-Southeastern Conference The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons

Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: ...

(SEC) selection in recognition of his successful season. He also received first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

. During his senior season, Matthews played

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

after playing

right tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

for the previous three seasons. As a senior in 2013, Matthews was again a first-team All-SEC selection.

Professional career

Matthews was selected by the

with the sixth overall pick in the

. With

Luke Joeckel Luke Tobias Joeckel (; born November 6, 1991) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars second overall in the 2013 NFL draft ...

having been selected second overall in the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

, Texas A&M became the first school with consecutive top-10 selected offensive lineman since

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

Tyron Smith Tyron Jerrar Smith (born December 12, 1990) is an American former professional football player who played offensive tackle in the National Football League for 14 seasons, from 2011 to 2024. He played college football for the USC Trojans where ...

and

Matt Kalil Matthew Francis Kalil (born July 6, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and was selected by the Minnesota Vik ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, respectively. In his first NFL game, Matthews suffered a

high ankle sprain A high ankle sprain, also known as a syndesmotic ankle sprain (SAS), is a sprain of the syndesmotic ligaments that connect the tibia and fibula in the lower leg, thereby creating a mortise and tenon joint for the ankle. High ankle sprains are desc ...

in a season-opening victory over the Saints. Despite the injury, Matthews started in all but one game in his rookie season. (As of the end of the 2024 NFL season, he has played every game since.) In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, Matthews' blocking improved, allowing only 38 quarterback pressures compared to 51 in 2014. That season, Matthews was named the third most improved player of 2015 by

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

. In the 2016 season, Matthews and the Falcons reached

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confe ...

, where they faced the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. In the Super Bowl, Matthews played every offensive snap, as the Falcons lost in overtime to the Patriots, 34–28, giving up a 28–3 lead. With the Falcons leading, 28–20, with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Matthews was flagged for offensive holding following a sack, both of which proved costly in the end, as they pushed the Falcons out of field goal range, thereby erasing an opportunity for them to put the game away. On April 25, 2017, the Falcons picked up the fifth-year option on Matthews' contract. He started all 16 games at left tackle for the third straight year for the Falcons in 2017. On July 27, 2018, Matthews signed a five-year, $75 million contract extension with the Falcons. On January 23, 2019, Matthews was named to his first

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

, as a replacement for Redskins offensive tackle

Trent Williams Trent Williams (born July 19, 1988) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, where he was recognized as an All-A ...

.During the 2020 season, Matthews played in all 16 games, allowing only three sacks, six quarterback hits, and three total penalties on 1,113 offensive snaps. For his 2020 performance, he earned a 75.5 overall

grade, with a 84.0 grade in pass blocking and 57.4 grade in run blocking. His pass blocking ranked 9th among all tackles in the NFL and his run blocking ranked 47th. The 75.5 overall grade was the lowest he had received since the 2016 season. As of the end of the 2024 season, Matthews has played at least 1,000 snaps every season since 2015. On March 14, 2022, Matthews signed a three-year, $52.5 million extension with the Falcons. By the end of November 2022, Matthews started 138 consecutive regular season games, the longest active streak for a left tackle in the NFL. By the end of the 2024 season Matthews has started 174 consecutive regular season games at left tackle for the Falcons, by far the longest active streak in professional football. On March 9, 2025, Matthews and the Falcons agreed to a two-year, $45 million contract extension.

Personal life

Matthews was born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He is the son of

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

r Bruce Matthews and the younger brother of Kevin Matthews, 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 eccentrici ...

who also played for the Aggies and last played for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

in 2015. His younger brother,

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

, last played center for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. He is also the cousin of former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Clay Matthews III William Clay Matthews III (born May 14, 1986), primarily known as Clay Matthews, is an American former professional American football, football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). The six-time Pro Bowl selection a ...

, who spent the majority of his career playing for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, and

Casey Matthews Casey Christopher Matthews (born January 16, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football linebacker. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He played college football at Ore ...

, a linebacker who last played for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

. He is the nephew of NFL veteran Clay Matthews Jr., the grandson of NFL veteran Clay Matthews Sr., and the great-grandson of H. L. Matthews.

References

External links

*
Atlanta Falcons bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Jake 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Missouri City, Texas Players of American football from Harris County, Texas All-American college football players American football offensive tackles Texas A&M Aggies football players Atlanta Falcons players Matthews family (United States) National Conference Pro Bowl players