GLENDALE, ARIZONA // Chris Matthews was working in a shoe store a year ago but on Sunday he was putting together an MVP-worthy performance in the Super Bowl that was spoiled by the New England Patriots.
The unheralded Seahawks receiver entered the NFL’s championship game without a career reception but had the game of his life, with four catches for a game-high 109 yards and a touchdown.
“I don’t care if I don’t even have one pass, one yard, one tackle. It wouldn’t have mattered to me as long as we had won the game,” said Matthews, who had been on the field for only 26 plays this season, before the Super Bowl. “I would have been happy with a win with no stats.”
Undrafted out of the University of Kentucky, Matthews bounced around a few teams, including in the Canadian Football League, and was never able to stick.
He was out of football and working for Foot Locker, an American sportswear and footwear retailer, when he got a call from Seattle. Matthews told them he did not finish work until later that night and could not make the try-out but his agent convinced him to get on a plane.
The decision changed his life.
With Seattle trailing 7-0 midway through the second quarter, Matthews took advantage of his 1.96-metre height to jump over a defender for a 44-yard catch that put Seattle at the Patriots 11-yard line. Three plays later, Marshawn Lynch scored a game-tying touchdown.
When it appeared the Patriots would take a lead into half time, Matthews found himself on the receiving end of an 11-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson that tied the score at 14-14 with two seconds left in the half. Three plays into the third quarter, Matthews was at it again as he hauled in a 45-yard Wilson pass that set up a go-ahead field goal to make it 17-14.
Seattle built a 24-14 lead but were unable to hang on as the Patriots scored two touchdowns to pull ahead and sealed the victory with seconds to play when they intercepted a Wilson pass in the end zone.
Matthews’s 45-yard catch was the longest of the game.
“I just think the coaches prepared me in the best possible way they can in practice,” he said. “Making sure that I was well prepared for what was to come, regardless of whether it was this year, next year or the year after that.”
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