Fansided

Every NFL team’s most underrated player of all time

By Jarrett Bailey

Photo by JOHN CAPUTO/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by JOHN CAPUTO/AFP via Getty Images /
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CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 19: Linebacker Clay Matthews #57 of the Cleveland Browns looks on from the field during a game against the Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on September 19, 1988 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Colts 23-17. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 19: Linebacker Clay Matthews #57 of the Cleveland Browns looks on from the field during a game against the Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on September 19, 1988 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns defeated the Colts 23-17. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images) /

Cleveland Browns: Clay Matthews Jr

The Matthews family is one of the best in the history of football, and Clay Matthews Jr is one of several great Matthews’ to carve out a great career for himself.

Matthews played in the NFL for 19 years, which is an astounding accomplishment in itself. He spent 16 of those seasons with the Cleveland Browns, where he became one of the most beloved players in franchise history. Matthews was with Cleveland through their highest point as a modern franchise in the 1980s. The Browns made it to consecutive AFC Championship Games in the decade, losing both to the Denver Broncos, but Matthews was always a model of consistency at his linebacker position.

Matthews was a four-time Pro Bowl selection throughout his 19-year career. He is one of the great players in the history of the Browns and doesn’t always get the attention and recognition he deserves from non-Browns fans. His sons, Casey and Clay Matthews III, carried on the family name. Clay III helped the Packers win Super Bowl XLV over the Pittsburgh Steelers, and established himself as one of the best defensive players in football throughout his career.

While Matthews isn’t a Hall of Famer, he is remembered fondly in Cleveland.

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