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Green Bay, Wis. – Clay Matthews always thought he would play his entire career with the Green Bay Packers. Even when he left after 10 years and played one season with the Los Angeles Rams, he thought he had a chance to finish his career where he started.
But Matthews, the Packers’ all-time leading rusher, says he’s at peace with his entire career.
Matthews told the Packers after the 2018 season that he would still be in their plans, despite his reduced production. However, once they sign pass-rushers Zedarius Smith And Preston Smith In free agency, he knew it was over. Not long after, he got a call from Packers general manager Brian Gutekunt telling him he was moving on.
“I would love to finish my career there,” Matthews said Monday as part of a promotional tour for Tide Laundry. “Based on the conversations I had after the 2018 season, I thought we would continue to move forward. But yeah, I was surprised by the way it went. In the end, it is what it is. I enjoyed my year at LA It. It was great to go home and play with some amazing players.”
After one season with the Rams (2019), he initially did not commit to football. He rebounded from 3.5 sacks last season with 8.0 sacks in 13 games with the Packers. In the year After sitting out the Covid year in 2020, he thought there was a chance he would return to Green Bay because his coach with the Rams, Joe Barry, had just been hired as the Packers’ defensive coordinator.
“He got to me,” Matthews said. “He knew I could still play and he knew he’d know a way to use me in his plan if he had me. But nothing was revealed. For that to happen. But yeah, there was a brief glimmer of hope to come back. That didn’t happen, but it’s all good. But peace with my career.” i am.
In the year Matthews, a first-round pick in 2009 and a key member of their 2010 Super Bowl team, said it’s no accident he’s wearing a Packers jersey. In the Tide ad In this way, he tries to convince the team that not washing the jersey has nothing to do with winning or losing.
“Everybody knows me in Green Bay,” said Matthews, who had 83.5 of his 91.5 career sacks with the Packers. “The 10 years I played with the Packers was a lot longer than the one year I played with the Rams.”
