In recent years, former college football walk-ons have won a Heisman, been a key component on multiple national championship teams, and provided a few examples of players who further developed their craft as NFL superstars. USC has Clay Matthews III as one of its greatest walk-on stories.
Walk-ons are utilized for depth and to fill out rosters, but every now and then there’s one who takes advantage of opportunity and balls out — like all of these standouts.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports took a walk down memory lane looking at the top ten walk on’s in the history of college football and there were some very notable names including former USC Trojans legend Clay Matthews who came in at No. 10 on the list.
Clay Matthews III joined the USC Trojans in 2004 from Agoura Hills High School in California.
Matthews was a standout special teams player under Pete Carroll, winning three consecutive Special Teams Player of the Year awards from 2006 to 2008. He also played backup outside linebacker until 2008, his senior season, when he was named 2nd team all-conference in the Pac-10.
A first-round pick (No. 26 overall) in 2009, Matthews stands atop the Packers’ all-time sack list (since 1982) with 83½ career sacks. Matthews’ six Pro Bowl appearances are tied with Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White as the most by a Packers defender.
Matthews III had the bloodlines for the sport, beginning with his grandfather, Clay Matthews Sr., who played four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers in the early 1950s. Matthews’ father, Clay Jr., played 19 seasons in the NFL and has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame several times.
His uncle, Bruce, is enshrined in Canton after starting 293 games over 18 seasons with the Houston/Tennessee NFL franchise. Bruce’s son, Jake, has been the Atlanta Falcons’ left tackle for nearly a decade.
Check out the full list here 247sports.com-10-most-memorable-walk-ons-of-all-time-ranked
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