Ryan Jefforey Mathews (born October 10, 1987) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. 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

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

, earning second-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 in 2009. Mathews was selected by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in the first round of the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

with the 12th overall pick. He was named to the

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 ...

in 2011. He also played for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Early life

Mathews was born in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

, to Tricia Mathews, when she was 16. His father left before he was born and Ryan has only seen him a few times in his life. For the first four months of his life, Mathews and his mother lived out of her 1969 Oldsmobile. His mother is Caucasian and his father is African-American. As a child, he and his mother moved to Tehachapi, a small city 35 miles southeast of Bakersfield, to be closer to family. Once there, she took on several jobs to provide a decent life for her son. He began playing football at age five, and his mother Tricia never missed a game. After junior high school, he moved to Bakersfield to face tougher athletic competition. Mathews attended West High School in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

, where he played football and ran track. He played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

, and

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 ...

for the Vikings

team. As a junior, he led West High to a CIF championship while rushing for 1,104 yards and 18

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s on offense and totaling 97

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

and 16 sacks on

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. Following the season, he was an All-State underclass selection. As a senior, Mathews led the nation with 3,396 rushing yards (9.97 yards per attempt) and 44

s as a running back, along with 851 passing yards and 11 touchdowns as a quarterback. After his senior season, he was named first team All-State and a second team

. In

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

, Mathews competed in hurdles (personal-best of 15.99 in the 110m hurdles) and relays (43.13 in the 4 × 100 m). In addition, he also ran a 4.5-second

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

and had a 32-inch vertical. Regarded as a three-star recruit, many

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

and

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

schools had interest in him, but backed away because of fears he would not be academically eligible. Fresno State remained in the recruiting scene and eventually Mathews signed with them. He was also teammates with

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

cornerback A. J. Jefferson.

College career

Mathews attended

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

from 2007 to 2009. Mathews had his breakout game with 14 carries for 171 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. Later in the season, he had 16 carries for 144 rushing yard and two rushing touchdowns against

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

. As a freshman in 2007, Mathews rushed for 866 yards on 145 carries and scored 14 touchdowns. His rushing yard average and touchdowns led all

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

freshmen. As a sophomore in 2008, he ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in rushing yards and touchdowns after four games. In the season opener against

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

, he had 26 carries for 163 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. In the fourth game against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, he ran for 166 yards and scored two touchdowns. After the injury, he missed most of the next three games and sat out the final five. He finished the season with 606 yards on 113 carries and eight touchdowns. In Fresno State's third game in the 2009 season, Mathews had 19 carries for 234 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns against

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

. In his next two games against

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, he went over 140 rushing yards and scored a touchdown against both. In the following game against

, he had 20 carries for 233 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. In his next three games, against

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

, Utah State, and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, he totaled 157, 185, and 143 rushing yards. He scored seven total rushing touchdowns in the three-game stretch. On December 5, he had 32 carries for 173 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. In his final collegiate game, he had 31 carries for 144 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the

New Mexico Bowl The New Mexico Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2006 at University Stadium (Albuquerque), University Stadium, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New M ...

against

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. As a junior in 2009, Mathews led

in rushing with an average of 150.67 yards per game in 12 games. He totaled 1,808 yards on 276 carries and 19 touchdowns. He missed one game due to a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

. Following the regular season, he was given numerous individual awards, including being named first team all- WAC and a second team All-American by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. In December 2009, Mathews decided to forgo his senior season and enter the

. His 1,808 yards rushing ranks him behind only

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979), nicknamed "LT", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college football career with the T ...

and

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

in the WAC season record books.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Mathews was selected by the

in the first round with the 12th overall pick in the

. He is the third highest Fresno State Bulldog to be drafted since David Carr went first overall in the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

and

Trent Dilfer Trent Farris Dilfer (born March 13, 1972) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the UAB Blazers football team. Dilfer previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He achieved ...

went sixth overall in the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

Nate Cohn Nathan David Cohn (born August 16, 1988) is an American journalist and chief political analyst for "The Upshot" at ''The New York Times''. His reporting focuses on elections, public opinion, and demographics in the United States. Early life and ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 2022 listed Mathews and Anthony Barr as the only two of 19 top NFL draft picks since 2005 whose careers justified being chosen much earlier than their ESPN draft ranking. On August 1, 2010, Mathews signed a five-year, $26.65 million contract with the Chargers. The deal included $15 million guaranteed. In his NFL debut in Week 1, he had 20 carries for 78 rushing yards in the 21–14 loss to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. In Week 17, he had 26 carries for 120 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 33–28 victory over the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. As a rookie, Mathews finished with 158 carries for 678 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. In the 2011 season, Mathews had four games going over 100 rushing yards and two games with multiple rushing touchdowns. Mathews received praise for his improved play as a second-year running back. He finished with 1,091 rushing yards and six touchdowns and made the

as an alternate for

Ray Rice Raymell Mourice Rice (born January 22, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for six seasons with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Rutgers ...

. On August 9, 2012, Mathews broke his right clavicle on his first carry in the first preseason game of

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 ...

against 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 ...

. He was expected to be out for 4–6 weeks. On September 23, Mathews returned from his collarbone injury in Week 3 of the regular season. In the 27–3 loss to 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 ...

, Mathews made his season debut and rushed for 44 yards on 10 carries and caught five passes for 32 yards. However, he had a fumble inside the Falcons' 5-yard line. In the following game against

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, Jackie Battle started instead of Mathews. Battle was in 27 plays compared to Mathews' 21, with most of Mathews work in the fourth quarter when San Diego's victory was mostly already decided. ''

U-T San Diego ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' wrote that Mathews would have been expected to start were it not for his fumble against Atlanta. On December 16 against 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 ...

, Mathews broke his left clavicle and was placed on season-ending injured reserve for the remainder of the 2012 season. He finished the 2012 season with 184 carries for 707 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go along with 39 receptions for 252 receiving yards in 12 games. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, Mathews did not miss a game due to injury for the first time in his career. He led the NFL with six 100-yard games, and set a career-high in rushing yards with 1,255 that season; it was the most yards by a Charger since Tomlinson's 1,474 in 2007. Mathews led the NFL in both carries (121) and yards rushing (534) for the month of December, and ran for 100 yards in three of the final four games of the season. He fell short with 99 yards in a 26–13 win against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, when he also injured his left ankle. The following week in the regular season finale, he ran for a career-high 144 yards in a 27–24 overtime win over

that qualified San Diego for the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. It was the Chargers' first postseason appearance since Mathews was drafted in 2010. The team won 27–10 in a Wild Card Round win against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

. Mathews had 52 yards on 13 carries, but ran the ball just once in the second half due to his injured ankle. It was the second consecutive week he was a limited practice participant on Friday before playing on Sunday. Still hurting, he started the following game in the Divisional Round against the

despite being unable to practice the entire week. However, he was limited to five carries and 26 yards and left the game in the second quarter in a 24–17 Chargers loss. Mathews missed seven games in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

after he sustained a sprained MCL in Week 2 against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. He had 12 carries for 105 rushing yards and a touchdown against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in Week 12. After suffering an ankle sprain in Week 14 against 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 ...

, he missed the remainder of the regular season.

Philadelphia Eagles

Mathews signed a three-year deal with the

on March 12, 2015. However, the Eagles also signed NFL rushing champion DeMarco Murray and already had Darren Sproles, who scored six rushing touchdowns on limited carries in 2014. However, Murray played poorly in the first two games of the season against the

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, rushing for 11 yards on 21 carries, although Mathews was not much better, rushing for four yards on four carries and one touchdown, while Sproles led the team with 46 yards on six carries. When Murray went down with a hamstring injury in week 3, Mathews stepped up against the 2–0

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

and rushed for 108 yards on 24 carries while catching a 23-yard receiving touchdown. When Murray returned in Week 4, Mathews was again the backup, while Murray had another sub-par game against

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. In Week 5, Murray rushed for 83 yards on 20 carries leading the team in rushing, but Mathews was only ten yards behind with only eight carries, and he also had a touchdown. Mathew's best performance was against the then undefeated

, where he rushed for 97 yards on six carries. Mathews' chances of starting were damaged when he was knocked out with a concussion in a 20–19 loss to 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 ...

, which led to Darren Sproles becoming the feature back. Upon his return, he played on an average level, but had a good game against the 11–2

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

(11 carries for 58 yards) and finally won the starting job. Ultimately, he lost his starting job to DeMarco Murray in a Week 16 loss to the Redskins, where he had four carries for five yards and a touchdown. Through an up and down season, Mathews finished by leading the team in rushing touchdowns with six, as well as compiling 539 rushing yards on 106 carries, a 5.1 average. In Week 10 of the 2016 season, Mathews had 19 carries for 109 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a 24–15 victory over the

. In Week 15, he had 20 carries for 128 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. In the 2016 season, Mathews played in 13 games with eight starts, finishing the season with 661 rushing yards and eight touchdowns along with 13 receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown. He was placed on injured reserve on December 27, 2016, after suffering a herniated disc during a game against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in Week 16. On August 15, 2017, Mathews was released by the Eagles after recovering from offseason neck surgery.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Mathews grew up as a fan of the

since childhood and is a fan of

, particularly because of his running style. He wore No. 21 in high school and at Fresno State in honor of Tomlinson. He is also a member of

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...

fraternity.

References

External links

*
Fresno State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Ryan 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Bakersfield, California American football running backs Fresno State Bulldogs football players San Diego Chargers players Philadelphia Eagles players American Conference Pro Bowl players