Eagles Ex Jordan Matthews On Philly Winning Super Bowl Without Him: 'Harder Than Anything'
In Feb. 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, giving the franchise its first-ever Super Bowl title. The Eagles celebrated the greatest achievement in team history, but unfortunately, not everyone could join the festivities.
For the three seasons prior to the Super Bowl victory, receiver Jordan Matthews was a key piece of the Eagles' offense. A second-round pick in 2014, Matthews had 225 receptions for 2,673 yards and 19 touchdowns in his three-year stint in Philadelphia. The Eagles cycled through several quarterbacks in that time, with Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford and Carson Wentz all starting for extended times, but Matthews remained remarkably consistent.
Despite his strong play, the Eagles traded Matthews and a third-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for cornerback Ronald Darby in the 2017 offseason. Matthews not only had career-lows to that point in receptions, yards and touchdowns, but also ended the season on injured reserve with a knee injury. Meanwhile, Matthews' former team won the Super Bowl just months after trading him away.
Watching that, while recovering from a major injury no less, was an excruciating feeling for Matthews. He compared his experience to NBA star DeMar DeRozan, who saw his former Toronto Raptors squad win their first championship a year after trading him to the San Antonio Spurs.
“It wasn’t just that I had to watch my former team go and win, I was in a straight-leg knee brace and a walking boot with both legs up, two or three days out of surgery, sitting there watching my former team win the Super Bowl,” Matthews said on the Raw Room Podcast. “If I ever see DeMar DeRozan, I know him because I knew what he went through. That was probably harder than anything and any rehab.”
The fact that there was a trade at all caught Matthews off guard. Even while dealing with injuries throughout the 2017 offseason, Matthews thought he had done enough to keep his roster spot. However, the Eagles decided to go in another direction.
“They knew I was going in with injuries, and it’s a business,” Matthews said. “I don’t hold any grudges. You cannot get bitter, but you can get better. They honestly thought that a 100 percent Nelson Agholor at that point was better than 80 percent me. That wasn’t the conversation we had at first. Shout out to Nelson. He did his thing, but I came into the preseason and balled in that first game. The next day, I came into the building, and when I left, I got a phone call telling me I was traded to the Bills.”
Unfortunately, injuries have hampered Matthews throughout his career. Since being traded to the Bills in 2017, he has just 49 receptions for 615 yards and three touchdowns, and hasn't had any catches since 2019. He has bounced around the league quite a bit, even re-joining the Eagles on two separate occasions, and is currently with the San Francisco 49ers. Matthews changed his position to tight end in 2021, but missed the entire 2022 season with a torn ACL.
The Eagles' Super Bowl LII title remains the franchise's crowning achievement, but for Matthews, it's a reminder of what could've been.
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