Phidarian "Phil" Mathis (born April 26, 1998) is 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

of 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 ...

(NFL). 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 ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and was drafted by the Commanders in the second round of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

Early life and high school

Mathis was born on April 26, 1998, in

Wisner, Louisiana Wisner is a town in Franklin Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 964 at the 2010 census, down from 1,140 in 2000. History Wisner was founded by Edward Wisner, a native of Athens, Michigan, whose family came from Switzerland and ...

. He attended

Franklin Parish High School Franklin Parish School Board is a school district headquartered in Winnsboro, Louisiana, United States. The district serves Franklin Parish. The Franklin Parish superintendent is john Gullet, a former Superintendent of caldwell parish schools S ...

prior to moving after his sophomore year to

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

, where he enrolled at

Neville High School Neville High School is a high school in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is administered by the Monroe City Schools Board. It is located 1/2 mile from the Ouachita River. Its mascot is the Tiger. Academics Neville offers a wide variety of aca ...

. As a senior, he had 41 tackles and seven sacks. Mathis was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play college football at

over offers from

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

and TCU.

College career

Mathis redshirted his true freshman season at Alabama. He played in all 15 of the Crimson Tide's games as a redshirt freshman and was named to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) All-Freshman team. Mathis had 31 tackles, five tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks with a forced fumble as the Crimson Tide won the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship. Mathis declared for the

following the season.

Professional career

Mathis was selected by the

in the second round (47th overall) of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract on June 21, 2022. In his NFL debut, Mathis tore the

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

in his left knee and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

Personal life

Mathis goes by the nickname of Phil.

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders bio

Alabama Crimson Tide bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Phidarian 1998 births Living people People from Franklin Parish, Louisiana American football defensive tackles Players of American football from Louisiana Alabama Crimson Tide football players Washington Commanders players African-American players of American football