Bruce Matthews (American football)

Bruce Rankin Matthews (born August 8, 1961) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for nineteen seasons during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Matthews played college football for the University of Southern California, and was recognized as an All-American. He was selected in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft, played professionally for the NFL's Oilers/Titans franchise, and was a fourteen-time Pro Bowl selection. Matthews is currently the offensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans.

Personal
Bruce comes from a football family. He is the son of Clay Matthews, Sr., who played in the NFL in the 1950s. His brother, also named Clay Matthews, played 19 seasons in the NFL. He is the uncle of Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews III, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Casey Matthews, and Kyle Matthews of USC football. Bruce's disposition for football has been continued by several of his sons. His son Kevin played center for the Texas A&M Aggies until the 2009 football season, and is currently a member of the Tennessee Titans. Jake Matthews is currently a sophomore at Texas A&M University and plays offensive line for the Texas A&M Aggies, a position for which he was nationally ranked coming out of high school. Mike plays offensive line for Elkins High school and is currently committed to play college ball at Texas A&M University as well.

In the 1970s, the family lived on the North Shore of Chicago where Bruce attended New Trier High School for one year. Matthews later moved to Los Angeles, where he was a standout playing on both the offensive and defensive line at Arcadia High School. He was also an all-league wrestler.

College career
He attended the University of Southern California, where he played all offensive line positions at various times, earning All-America honors in his senior year and winning the Morris Trophy.

Professional career
The Houston Oilers drafted Matthews with the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft. In Houston, he blocked for the legendary Earl Campbell and eventually played all line positions (guard, center and tackle), going to the Pro Bowl as a guard and center. He was selected to fourteen Pro Bowls in all, tying a league record held by Merlin Olsen. Matthews was also named First-team All-Pro nine times (1988–1993, 1998–2000) and All-AFC 12 seasons (1988–1993, 1995–2000). He was selected as a guard on the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1990s. Matthews spent his entire career with the Oilers franchise, which relocated in the middle of his career and became the Tennessee Titans. An extremely durable player, Matthews retired after the 2001 season having played more games (296) than any NFL player, excluding kickers and punters (since surpassed by Brett Favre; Matthews still holds the record for linemen), and played in more seasons (19) than any offensive lineman. He never missed a game because of injury (the 1987 season was shortened due to a player strike), and started 229 consecutive games. In 1999, the Titans made it to Super Bowl XXXIV in which Matthews started, however they lost to the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams. Matthews is the only player who played against the Baltimore Colts in their last game at Memorial Stadium and against the Baltimore Ravens in their last game at Memorial Stadium.

In his first year of eligibility, Matthews was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2007. He was inducted during the Enshrinement Ceremony on August 5, 2007 with the unveiling of his bust, sculpted by Scott Myers. He is the only player from the Tennessee Titans to be given this honor since their relocation from Houston. He was the fifth player from the 1983 NFL draft class to be enshrined, joining Dan Marino, Eric Dickerson, John Elway, and Jim Kelly; Darrell Green later became the sixth.

Coaching
On February 27, 2009, Matthews returned to Houston where he was signed on as an Offensive Assistant with the Houston Texans after volunteer coaching at his children's high school, Elkins High School. On February 9, 2011, Matthews was hired as offensive line coach by new Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak. Both were Hall of Fame lineman for the Houston Oilers.

Matthews on his new job in Tennessee:

''"For me this is an opportunity of a lifetime," Matthews said. "It is such a unique opportunity to work with Mike because I think he will do a great job. It is just one of those things I couldn't pass up."''