William Clay Matthews Sr. (August 1, 1928 – March 23, 2017) was an

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 with ...

tackle and patriarch of the

Matthews family The Matthews family is a prominent family in American football. One of only five third-generation families to play in the National Football League (NFL), it is often called the "NFL's First Family". Its seven members who have played in the NFL hav ...

of football players. Matthews played for four seasons with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

of the

NFL 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 major ...

, the first in 1950. When the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

broke out, Matthews enlisted as a paratrooper for the Army's

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

. In 1953, he returned to the 49ers for three seasons. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Georgia Tech. He was drafted in the 25th round of the

1949 NFL Draft The 1949 National Football League Draft was held on December 21, 1948, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. The draft was preceded by a secret draft meeting held November 15, 1948, at the Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh. This was the ...

by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

before being traded to the 49ers. After completing his NFL career, he began a career in business, eventually becoming the president of Bell & Howell, a manufacturing company. His father, H. L. Matthews, coached boxing, baseball, and track at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. Matthews's sons,

Clay Matthews Jr. William Clay Matthews Jr. (born March 15, 1956) is a former American football linebacker who played for the Cleveland Browns and the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Brown ...

and Bruce Matthews, played in the NFL in the 1970s to the 1990s, the latter inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

. Numerous grandsons have played in the NFL as well, including Clay Matthews III, Kevin,

Jake Jake may refer to: Name * Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer * Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach Animals * Jake (rescue dog), a s ...

, and

Casey Matthews Casey Christopher Matthews (born January 16, 1989) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oregon. He is the brother of Clay Matt ...

. Matthews died at the age of 88 on March 23, 2017, in

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Mount Pleasant is a large suburban town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. In the Low Country, it is the fourth largest municipality and largest town in South Carolina, and for several years was one of the state's fastest-growin ...

References

External links

DatabaseFootball stats1955 49ers Team Issue Photo of Clay Matthews Sr.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Clay Sr. 1928 births 2017 deaths American football defensive ends American football offensive tackles Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players San Francisco 49ers players Sportspeople from Charleston, South Carolina People from Sugar Land, Texas Players of American football from South Carolina Matthews football family