Clay Matthews Sr.

William Clay Matthews Sr. was an American professional football player and patriarch of the Matthews family of football players. Matthews played for four seasons as a defensive lineman with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL), the first in 1950. When the Korean War broke out, Matthews enlisted as a paratrooper for the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. In 1953, he returned to the 49ers for three seasons. He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the 25th round of the 1949 NFL draft before being traded to the 49ers.