Matt Sheridan (born May 27, 1977 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is a professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

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, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

who is currently

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

. He played eight seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

and was twice named Winnipeg's Most Outstanding offensive lineman. Sheridan was born in Montreal, grew up in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, and played

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

for the

Manitoba Bisons The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football team plays their games at Investors Group Field. The soccer team play their home games at the University of Manitoba ...

. He was drafted in the sixth round of the

2000 CFL Draft The 2000 CFL Draft took place on Tuesday, April 18, 2000. 46 players were chosen for Canadian Football League teams from among the 504 eligible CIAU football players from Canadian universities, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. Of t ...

by the Blue Bombers and joined the team's practice squad at the start of the

2001 CFL season The 2001 CFL season is considered to be the 48th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 44th Canadian Football League season. CFL news in 2001 The Canadian Football League were able to get new corporate partnership ...

Professional career

Sheridan made his professional debut in Week 15 of the 2001 season and made his first start the following week. He ended up playing the remainder of the season for a total of four regular season games as well as the East Division final and the

89th Grey Cup The 89th Grey Cup (Canadian Football League championship) was held in 2001 in Montreal. The Calgary Stampeders claimed their fifth championship in team history with a 27–19 win over the East Division champions and heavily favoured Winnipeg Blu ...

. Sheridan started the first two games of the

2002 CFL season The 2002 CFL season is considered to be the 49th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 45th Canadian Football League season. CFL news in 2002 On March 19, Michael Lysko was relieved of his duties as CFL Commissio ...

but a back injury caused him to miss 12 of the 18 regular season matches as well as the playoffs. The

2003 CFL season The 2003 CFL season is considered to be the 50th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 46th Canadian Football League season. The pre-season began on May 30, 2003 and the regular season started on June 17, 2003. Ta ...

saw Sheridan bounce back and start all regular season games and the West Division semi-final. His playing streak continued in the

2004 CFL season The 2004 CFL season is considered to be the 51st season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 47th Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 2004 Neil Payne retired from his position as Director of Officiating in Febr ...

, starting all 18 regular season games at left

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and Sheridan was honoured with the Ed Kotowich Good Guy Award for "best combining football ability, team camaraderie, and extraordinary effort off the field in the community" and was named the Bombers Most Outstanding offensive lineman. Sheridan continued his playing streak and superior play for the

2005 CFL season The 2005 CFL season is considered to be the 52nd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 48th Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 2005 New ownership groups took control of two CFL franchises in the 2005 sea ...

, the third straight year he played all regular season games and again named Winnipeg's Most Outstanding offensive lineman. He was also named the CFL Lineman of Week 8 and was the Blue Bombers nomination for the Tom Pate Memorial Award, recognising his contributions to the community. The last three years of Sheridan's play in Winnipeg was limited by injury beginning in the

2006 CFL season The 2006 CFL season is considered to be the 53rd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 49th Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 2006 It was announced on April 9, 2006 that the CFL had suspended the operat ...

, in which a nagging groin injury caused him to only five starts and play in seven regular season games. He was able to return strongly for the

2007 CFL season The 2007 CFL season was the 54th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 50th season of the Canadian Football League, and many special events were held to commemorate the event. Regular-season play began on June 28, 2007 at the Rogers Centre ...

, starting 15 regular season games at left guard and the East semi-final, East final, and

95th Grey Cup The 95th Grey Cup was held in Toronto at the Rogers Centre on November 25, 2007. The Grey Cup, first awarded in 1909, is the championship game of the Canadian Football League. It was played between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg ...

and considered a big reason the Bombers' offensive line gave up the fewest quarterback sacks (27) in the CFL and running back Charles Roberts rushed for 1,379 yards and 16 touchdowns. The

2008 CFL season The 2008 CFL season was the 55th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 51st season for the Canadian Football League. It was also the first CFL season in which all of the league's regular season and post-season games, including the Grey Cup ...

appeared promising when Blue Bombers general manager Brendan Taman re-signed him in February and said "Matt Sheridan has been a big part of this team for some time now and we are glad he will continue to be for the foreseeable future". A groin re-injury suffered in training camp, however, saw him miss the beginning of the season and by his expected return in mid-July, a reported shoulder injury caused the Bombers to place him on the nine-game injured list. General Manager Brendan Taman suggested then that his time with the organisation was likely over and, on January 31, 2009, new Winnipeg head coach Mike Kelly said that Sheridan was "another guy who needed a fresh start elsewhere" and he was released. On April 29, 2010, it was announced that Sheridan had signed with the Calgary Stampeders, on June 21, 2010 he

from football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Matt 1977 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football offensive linemen Manitoba Bisons football players Players of Canadian football from Quebec Canadian football people from Montreal Winnipeg Blue Bombers players