Super Bowl Text Message w/ Michael Matthews

plezWorld (12:47 am): Yo, Nupe! What a game... Ya'll SHOCKED the World! Congrats in getting your first Super Bowl ring in your rookie year!
Michael Matthews (2:42 am): Oh yea. Achievement in every field of human endeavor.

I hit up Mike Matthews (#88 with the NY Giants) last night with a text message to congratulate him and his team on the biggest upset in Super Bowl history as they beat the previously undefeated New England Patriots (18-1) in Super Bowl XLII.

Yellow Jackets in the Super Bowl

I live in the sun-baked south, miles from either team from those snowy climes vying for the 42nd Lombardi Trophy on Sunday evening. Normally, plezWorld is checking out the blowout game to see the interesting commercials, get my very last fix of real football until August, and snooze through the halftime show.

This year's game will host a number of interesting subplots: will Eli Manning finally come back to earth from his lofty play of the last five weeks? will Randy Moss go for 200 yards and 4 touchdowns? will prettyboy quarterback Tom Brady score more than 17 points (see Plaxico Burress)? will the Patriots win the final game of an undefeated season? or will they finally collapse under the weight of such a lofty goal? will three Georgia Tech alums walk away from the game with 3 Super Bowl rings?

Say what?!? Yeah, you read that correctly... there are three Georgia Tech alums who will be playing on Sunday evening for the New York Football Giants: third-year safety James Butler, second-year linebacker Gerris Wilkinson, and my frat brother rookie tight end Michael (Big Mike) Matthews (a 2004 initiate of the Lambda Delta of Kappa Alpha Psi). All three have contributed to the Giants being in the Big Game: Butler is the Giants' fifth-leading tackler, despite missing three games in 2007. He has 58 total tackles, 42 solo tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery. Wilkinson played in 13 regular season games and saw significant action on special teams. Matthews played in all 16 games mainly in run support, but he also has six receptions on the season for 28 yards.

Super Bowl Photo courtesy of NY Giants Photo
From left to right: Michael Matthews, James Butler, and Gerris Wilkinson.

So you can say that this game has gotten personal for me. As much as I would like to see a successful end to the Patriots historic run this season, my heart goes with my fellow Yellow Jackets and my frat. It also doesn't hurt, that I grew up in New York as a Giants fan!

GO GIANTS!

Terrell Owens And The Bitch Move

On Sunday, the heavily favored NFC Eastern Division Champion Dallas Cowboys lost to the surging New York Giants, a team that they had beaten twice this season. During the postgame press conference, Terrell Owens pulled a bitch move: sniffled and cried as he tried to defend the poor performance of his quarterback, Tony Romo.


plez sez: WTF!

TWO (count 'em), two BITCH MOVES on one day... first bob johnson dissing obama and then terrell owens sobbing to the rescue of his overmatched and overrated QB! where were the tears when he was pissin' on donovan mcnabb in philly?!? at least, mcnabb got them to the NFC Championship game for 4 straight seasons and one super bowl... tony romo can't get the cowboys out of the first round of the playoffs!

T.O. seems to be unstable... didn't he have a failed suicide attempt a few seasons ago? they may need to keep an eye on this brother, because i ain't ever seen any *ish* like that before!

and my frat brother, ny giants rookie michael matthews, is heading to green bay next week to play for a shot in the super bowl... congrats!

Michael Matthews & New York Giants

“[He] is a guy who came into a situation where we really are in need of depth at that position. He’s demonstrated the ability to play not only tight end, but the move tight end, plus he can take snaps at fullback as well. He’s made himself a versatile player and we’ve been able to take advantage of that. Plus, he plays special teams. So he finds himself in a number of spots here at the end, and the more-you-can-do theory comes to point.”

- New York Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin on rookie tight end Michael Matthews, from Georgia Tech, who has made the roster for the upcoming season.

This quote is found on the NY Giants website.

plez sez: The evening of the NFL Draft, I posted the scoop that Michael Matthews had joined with the NY Giants as an unsigned free agent. Mike was a 3-year starter as tight end and graduated from Georgia Tech last fall with his degree in Management. Michael was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity at Georgia Tech (the chapter for which I am the alumni advisor) and he is a devoted family man for his wife and two small children. He worked real hard to be in good shape for the NFL combines during the winter and was picked up by the NY Giants at the completion of the draft.

A focused, intelligent, hard worker, I am really glad that my prediction that Michael Matthews would make the team has come to fruition. The coach's comments about him being able to play several positions (tight end, fullback, and special teams) means that not only did he make the team, but he will be an on-field contributor to the team.

I'll definitely have my eyes open for #88 when the season opens... I'm wishing Big Mike the best during his first season in the NFL. The Giants come to Atlanta to take on the Falcons on Monday Night Football on October 15, 2007.

NFL Draft Scoop - Michael Matthews - Georgia Tech

After toiling in the trenches for 3 years as the starting tight end for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Michael Matthews is ready for the NFL.



He's NOT Calvin Johnson... the wunderkind who could leap tall buildings, catch just about everything Reggie Ball didn't throw to him, and go to the dreadful Detroit Lions who have squandered 4 of 5 number one picks on highly touted wide receivers in the last 5 years! Calvin Johnson is destined to do great things in the NFL, but I just think his opportunities for greatness will be limited by the ineptitude of the Detroit Lions' front office and personnel on the field; he'll have to wait until they get new management or he gets a new team!

Mike Matthews is cut from a different cloth. He originally came to Georgia Tech to play defense, thus the 48 on his chest! He quickly converted to tight end and occasional special teams play. As a tight end, he didn't get the traditional tight end role of blocking on some plays, and then releasing the block and looking for a pass on other plays. At Georgia Tech, he was relegated to being a blocking tight end 95% of the time. The handful of times that the play called for a pass to the tight end, the ball was either thrown way over his head, way behind him, or at his feet (I guess that goes with the territory of playing with a QB who only had eyes for Calvin Johnson)!

Well, Mike is an articulate, clean cut, family man (father of two) who knows the value of hard work and perseverance. He had been fielding calls all week from teams like the Cincinnati Bengals (his hometown team), the Atlanta Falcons, the New York Jets, and the New York Giants. Steeling himself for a late round draft pick, Mike hunkered down for a long weekend. The call finally came on Sunday evening: although not a draft pick due to his limited role as a blocking tight end, the New York Football Giants have tendered a free agent contract for the recent Georgia Tech graduate. He's pumped up and ready to challenge Jeremy Shockey for the tight end position in New York!

plez sez: You heard it hear FIRST, because I heard it first from the man himself: Big Mike! I received a call shortly after he got his contract from the Giants and I am really happy for Mike. He is a solid citizen, a real smart guy, my frat brother, and he'll be ready to play when the ball is snapped. He is a little let down at not being drafted, but I gave him a small piece of advice: "it's not how you get to the NFL, it's what you do when you get there, that matters." I'm sure he'll take that to heart and I look forward to seeing Mike Matthews playing on Sunday!