Elkins Senior Finishes High School Football Career By Signing With Texas A&M

By Mara Soloway

Luke Matthews’ career as an offensive lineman for Elkins High School’s football team is ending with some significant accomplishments. The 18-year-old senior from Missouri City was among the best high school players in the nation – aka the future stars of college football – to be chosen to play in the January 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Luke played for the West Team, which beat the East Team, 17-16.

“I was excited and really honored that they chose me out of all these great players. I met a lot of really cool people,” Luke said. “It was a great experience – it was by far the hardest game I’ve ever played because everybody’s a tremendous athlete.”

Shortly after this achievement, he signed with the Texas A&M University Aggies football team. He will leave Elkins in May a week before classes there are finished to attend summer school and begin football practice in College Station.

“We start working out in May because the jump from high school to college football is tremendous. While I’m there working out I might as well take classes to make fall semester easier,” said Luke, who has kept his grades high since middle school in addition to working out five days a week. He plans to study business management, which he thinks would give him an interesting career if football doesn’t work out. But this prospect seems unlikely. For one thing, he has the physical stature – he’s 6’4” and 305 pounds – and the skill it takes to have made approximately 50 knockdowns in his senior year.

But another aspect of his life makes a career in the National Football League viable post-college: Luke is part of an American dynasty of football players. It began with his grandfather Clay Matthews, Sr., who played for San Francisco in the 1950s, and continued through his two sons, Clay, Jr., who played from 1978 to 1996 for Cleveland and Atlanta, and Bruce, who is Luke’s father. Bruce got drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1983 from the University of Southern California and is a Hall of Famer who played in Houston and Tennessee for 19 years.

Today the NFL includes Luke’s brothers. Jake plays with the Atlanta Falcons. Mike was with the Pittsburgh Steelers last year but suffered an injury and is looking to sign there or somewhere else this year. Kevin played with the Tennessee Titans for four years, then ended his career with the Carolina Panthers; he missed the season due to injury. Brother Steven is pursuing another path: he played football through high school and is studying for the bar exam after finishing law school.

Two of Luke’s older brothers also played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, and three of his brothers attended Texas A&M and played football.

“I’m really proud of all my boys and Luke especially,” Bruce said. “It’s like he didn’t stand a chance – he grew up immersed in football and it’s something he naturally gravitates to. He realizes he has a gift and a great opportunity to play at A&M.”

Luke didn’t feel pressured to play football. He wants to. “Any pressure on me to play is strictly from myself wanting to be a better player. If you’re going to play, do the best you can,” he said. “Plus it’s really cool to go home and have the greatest person ever to play that position be my dad.”

Luke learned valuable lessons from Bruce, who feels that players should prepare to give their best in each game. “Not only are you playing to win the game, you’re trying to honor God by how you use the talents and abilities He’s given you,” he said.

Luke considers offensive lineman the most demanding position on the field. “What’s challenging about it is the little stuff, like I can’t just expect to just overpower other players when they’re equally good at their position as I am at mine. It works at a younger level but in anything higher – college and the NFL – it’s all about footwork and hand placement.”

Being part of the line has led to genuine camaraderie. “It’s awesome to play next to some of my best friends. We probably have the best bond on the team because of the way we work together.”

The perspectives that Bruce and Luke’s brothers can share have helped give Luke a seasoned veteran’s understanding of the ups and downs of football: You aren’t going to win every game. You might get injured. You’re going to make mistakes. “It’s been really good to hear reassurance from them,” Luke said. “You obviously don’t want to make mistakes but they happen. And then you’re going to beat yourself up about them. My dad has given me the perspective that you dwell on mistakes for a short time and then do everything you can to prevent them from happening again.”

Bruce feels Luke is more mature than other players his age. “He’s been exposed his whole life to football and to the mindset of working hard. He knows that it takes just as much work in the off season as it does when you’re out there practicing football, and he’s incorporated that into the way he’s preparing for next season as well.”

Luke also works at not letting others mess with his mental game. “The thing is, when you make a mistake on a play, you don’t want to show weakness because then guys will come after you and get in your head. There’s so much trash-talking on the field. Once they get inside of you, they have control of you and it’s really hard to fight that off. It sucks but it’s part of the game.” Thankfully, sportsmanship reappears after the game, and players congratulate each other on a job well done.

Luke is philosophical about where he is in life, knowing that he has learned a lot each year that he’s played so far and that he has room for improvement. Bruce had wise words of perspective on this. “My dad played 19 years, and he said every single year he looked back and said, ‘Oh my gosh, that was terrible.’ He got better and better each year. As a 39-year-old, he felt he was better than he was in his fifth year.”

Luke is ready to experience all this for himself. “It’s really cool for someone my age to know you’ve got something planned at least for the next chapter in your life. I’m going in ready,” he said. “I’m really excited to play Aggie football, to continue the tradition of my family. I can’t wait to see where it takes me.”