New Buffalo Bills linebacker Tyler Matakevich loves special teams. We’ll get to that.
What’s much more interesting about Matakevich is perhaps how something came full circle for him.
Matakevich did the rounds with western New York media on Wednesday and did a quick chat with the team’s website and media. While chatting, the former member of the Pittsburgh Steelers discussed that he took a random, impromptu trip with his girlfriend to wine country which led him straight to what would be his future home.
“It’s funny, me and my girlfriend had a weekend off last year during the season and we made a pit stop in Buffalo before we went up to Niagara-the-lake on the Canadian side. We were eating some wings and we were like, ‘how cool would it be if we lived in Buffalo?’ Fast forward like year…few months later, and we’re going there,” Matakevich said.
Matakevich added those wings have him excited to get up to Buffalo and try the popular regional food. But while discussing his new home, he also gave a very “process” answer that would have had Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott smiling.
Matakevich was asked what the first thing he’s going to do when his current quarantine from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic ends. Answer: a very culture-friendly one.
“Well, besides go up to Buffalo…” Matakevich started. “I definitely gotta go to a beach or something, put my feet in the sand or something, I feel like I’ve been stuck in this house, you know? It’s driving me nuts… but I definitely am excited and I can’t wait to get up to Buffalo.”
In terms of on the field in Orchard Park, it’s widely expected that Matakevich will be an ace on special teams. He’s going to continue that role in Buffalo. McDermott touched on just that earlier his offseason.
“Him playing for Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. When you face teams and you know who their top special-teams players are, that’s a good thing. Tyler comes with a decorated resume as a special-teams player. Also I’ll say I think he’s an undervalued line-of-scrimmage player at the linebacker position,” McDermott said.
And Matakevich doesn’t have a problem with that at all. That third phase of the game is something the linebacker loves. He explained via conference call that he actually molded his game on special teams after a familiar face to Bills fans, Lorenzo Alexander, who was a very highly-touted special teams player himself. In addition, Matakevich just simply has a passion for doing his job there.
“Special teams is so important. They always just think offense, defense. but shoot, it’s a third of the game. That’s how guys make a living, it’s very important,” Matakevich said. “You want to be out there every play on offense and defense. You want to be out there every snap and stuff. But unfortunately you can’t, you know? So it’s like, ‘how am I going to make an impact on the field?’ Special teams is a great way to do it.”
“You only get so many plays so you have to go so hard each opportunity you get. It’s awesome, I love everything about it,” he added.
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