We’re not going to go over it again. You know how we felt about Clay Matthews standing around on the sideline at the end of the NFC Championship game against Seattle.
And if you don’t, feel free to read this.
After the game, information was vague, but we soon found out Matthews pulled himself. He said he was hurt. Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy didn’t seem to have a good answer for what happened or what the injury was.
And then he was well enough to play in the Pro Bowl the next week, which surely indicates he wasn’t hurt that bad.
Well, Rob Demovsky brought this up to Matthews this week and here’s what he had to say.
“It wasn’t one play. It was a while ago, but it was a bunch of things catching up to me. That’s what I’ve said since the game. It was a bunch of little things. It was knee. It was hip. I took that hit on the sack in which I had. I had a big hit on the tight end coming across the middle. It was a bunch of little stuff and that point, I didn’t feel confident putting myself out there. I had to do what’s in the best interests of not only the team, but I’ve got to take care of No. 1.”
Now, let’s break that down.
“It wasn’t one play. It was a while ago, but it was a bunch of things catching up to me.”
That statement seems like it was made by someone who’s fumbling around with his words because he either doesn’t know what to say or is looking for an excuse and doesn’t have one.
“That’s what I’ve said since the game.”
Right. You actually offered that excuse once, while making the media rounds at the Super Bowl. A game you should have been playing in.
“It was a bunch of little things. It was knee. It was hip. I took that hit on the sack in which I had. I had a big hit on the tight end coming across the middle. It was a bunch of little stuff and that point, I didn’t feel confident putting myself out there.”
Little stuff? In the biggest game of the year? When your team needs you the most?
“I had to do what’s in the best interests of not only the team, but I’ve got to take care of No. 1.”
Yup. Got to take care of No. 1 because No. 1 is a paper tiger.
Look, we’re not here to tell a guy how he feels or what to do with his body or when to play and when not to play.
We certainly have every right to be disappointed in this particular situation, though.
This is indicative of why guys on the team don’t see Matthews as a leader. Why they voted Morgan Burnett and Julius Peppers, in his first season with the team, as defensive captains last year.
It also makes you question the guy’s toughness, deserved or not. And it certainly feels deserved.
“We certainly have every right to be disappointed in this particular situation”.
No sir, is Clay Matthews who should be disappointed with himself!
I just never saw CMIII for this “type” of guy.
I want to believe so much that he is telling the truth, that he is a monster, etc
Then again, I wanted to think about Bert the same way, because when I was young he was my childhood hero.
Then I grew up. Everyone is just human.
He could have just said it was the prospect of being a father and how he wasn’t sure if he could handle being a dad and it was stressing him out as the baby was due a month later. That’s really what that was all about last January.
I hate to say it, but you really gotta give it to Pete Carroll, who I continue to gain more and more respect for. How does he get his guys to play and hit so hard? How does he get them to a point mentally where the team comes before personal well-being because that is what he’s getting out of his guys.
Richard Sherman after that game, about why he put himself on that field when he was so injured, said something to the effect, “If I wouldn’t have been out there, I would have been letting down my teammates.”
Something’s telling me…probably Clay’s own answers to these questions…that the team wasn’t really a consideration when he was standing on the sideline with his helmet off.
Oh and Monty…love you dude, but the link you should have had in this story was to Shawn’s really well-written take on it which I have provided below.
http://sgtest.totalpackers.com/2015/01/25/clay-matthews-quit-benched/
Maybe Matthews needs Kevin Greene to tell him when it’s time to go in and make a play. “It is time”.
If Clay is going to be unhealthy this year I say he can be #1 on another team. I’m getting weary of his explanations long after the fact. Why didn’t he say this before? Is this damage control?
Its quite obvious what happened, he stop playing because EVERYONE on the packers thought they won the game, duh.
and this comment is the blunt truth of the matter…CM3 thought, like most Packers, that it was in the bag…
Yes. I mean, It’s not like he just decided to stop playing. The packers had a 12 point lead with the ball, with 4 mins left. That’s when he stopped playing. This article makes it seem like the dude quit on the team. How did the guy quit on the team, when obviously their defensive unit was the reason for that 12 point lead.
Do you really want me to play for another team?
John, he quit. He thought along with everyone else that they had it won. First they thought it was his knee and then he made a statement that he was “gassed”. When you don’t keep the reason straight on what actually happened, you don’t seem credible.