It’s a chilly Tuesday evening at Autzen Stadium and Jerry Matson is hard at work.
With one calf wrapped in tape and his chin strap tightly snapped, Oregon’s senior middle linebacker labors through defensive drills, preparing himself for Saturday’s showdown against UCLA. Later, with practice nearing an end, Matson joins a group of special teamers to practice kickoff coverage.
While sprinting down the field to cover a mock kickoff isn’t where one would expect to see a starting Division I linebacker, Matson wouldn’t have it any other way.
In fact, hard work and taking
on unwanted jobs are the reasons No. 52 is at Oregon today. The
senior didn’t even start playing football until the eighth grade, and at that point, a future in the sport seemed laughable.
Born in Kodiak, Alaska, Matson waited to give football a try until the end of junior high when he moved to the state of Washington. He was so clueless about the sport that most of his on-field action came during a specialized time for children who weren’t very football savvy.
“If you weren’t that athletic or you just didn’t get the game, you played during the fifth quarter,” Matson said. “I played in the fifth quarter a lot because I didn’t know what was going on. I’m from Alaska and we didn’t have football there.”
After moving back to Alaska for less than a year, Matson returned to Edmonds, Wash., to attend Kamiak High School. Having enjoyed his brief time on the field, Matson decided to dedicate himself to becoming a better football player.

Ample hours spent in the weight room and endless work on technique turned Matson from a clueless newcomer into an all-state outside linebacker. During his senior year with the Knights, he led the state with 135 tackles. Matson was determined to succeed at the collegiate level, having transformed himself into a sturdy, 185-pounder, who could bench press 250 pounds and squat 430.
The joy of his stellar senior season quickly turned to disappointment, however, when Matson received little attention from Division I schools. Washington, Washington State, Idaho and other northwest universities didn’t think enough of Matson’s abilities to offer him a scholarship.
While Oregon showed interest in the high-energy defender, it too refused to offer Matson an immediate scholarship. What Duck coaches did offer Matson was encouragement and an opportunity to walk on and prove himself worthy of one.
“When he showed up here, he just wanted an opportunity,” Oregon linebackers coach Don Pellum said. “I told him, ‘You have to earn anything that you get.’ He said, ‘All I want is a chance.’”
After Matson settled on Oregon, however, it didn’t take long for him to second-guess his decision. The athletic dominance he experienced in high school was no longer evident. His competition was bigger, faster and stronger than before, and Matson’s chance of playing seemed hopeless. Pellum said Matson even considered quitting for a couple days before righting the ship.
After a few days of soul searching, Matson convinced himself that Oregon was his rightful place. He was then informed by head coach Mike Bellotti that he needed to move his way up to second on the linebacking depth chart and start on at least two special teams in order to earn a scholarship. Matson got to work immediately, using his redshirt year during the 2000 season to improve his physical skills.
If the re-energized Matson needed any added motivation, it came from spending time around David Moretti, who starred at middle linebacker for the Ducks from 2000-02.
“In high school, there was no one that loved football as much or would lift weights as much as me,” Matson said. “When I got here, David Moretti was the same kind of guy. I would be in the weight room and I’d hear the clinking of weights late in the night and I would be like, ‘Who is still here?’ It was frustrating having someone stay later than me. I wasn’t used to it. Having someone so similar and so dedicated, it really spurred me on to keep lifting.”
With Moretti entrenched in the middle, and the likes of Kevin Mitchell, Wesly Mallard and David Martin roaming the outside, Matson focused on special teams during his redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons. His constant hustle garnered respect from teammates and coaches and earned him additional reps with the linebackers.
While Bellotti told No. 52 to focus on his weak-side linebacker position, Matson chose to study the middle and strong-side linebacker positions as well, giving him a better chance at playing time. The decision paid off when Matson was able to compete for the starting middle linebacker position after the completion of his redshirt sophomore season.
After three years of hard work, the walk on’s heart and determination earned him more than just
respect and a chance to compete
for playing time. They earned him
a scholarship.
“All along, even before he earned a scholarship, he was an acknowledged leader of this team,” Bellotti said. “People would ask during
our spring meetings, ‘Who are the leaders of this team? Who are
the people you respect and who would you go into a foxhole with?’ (Matson’s) name kept coming
up because he worked very hard and people knew what he
was about.”
Matson was determined to fill the opening at middle linebacker entering his junior season, but lacked the polish necessary to start in the Pacific-10 Conference. Pellum continued to work with his pupil, however, knowing Matson had the motor, he just needed the vision.
“Jerry’s always played with a great passion,” Pellum said.
“He’s always run around really fast. A lot of the time, he’d go the wrong way or do the wrong thing, but
you saw him run around and you saw a burst and you saw a flash
and you said, ‘You know what? If we get him straightened out, with his eyes in the right spot, heading
in the right direction, he might be pretty good.’”
Pellum’s observation proved correct as Matson won the starting job entering the 2003 season. He continuously confirmed himself worthy of the task, finishing the season with 81 tackles, including 16 for a loss. He also intercepted a pass and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown in a victory against UCLA.
“In the fourth quarter, he’s going just as fast as he was in the first quarter,” outside linebacker Ramone Reed said. “I know if I was a lineman, I’d probably hate going against Jerry. Even if somebody gets a
good hit on him, he just bounces back up like nothing ever happened. He’s awesome. He’s an inspiration to me. When I’m down or I’m tired, I look over at Jerry and I’m like, ‘I can’t let him down because he won’t let me down.’”
Despite his impressive statistics, what Matson’s coaches and teammates admired most was his ability to stay hungry despite having met his goal of achieving a starting position. He continued to work hard in practice and was always one of the last players to leave the weight room.
Now a senior, Matson has built himself up to a 225-pound punishing tackler, who benches 325 pounds and squats 520. He’s a sure tackler and continues to contribute on special teams.
“Every year, I’ve been top-11 on special teams,” Matson said. “I kind of take pride in it and I like to show guys that you’re not too good for special teams as you get older.”
Matson’s teammates continue to be impressed by his hustle.
“Jerry’s one of those guys that just will not be denied,” Reed said. “He’s one of those guys who thrives off people telling him he’s too small or he’s not good enough.
“He’s the hardest working player on this team.”
Matson’s hard work is evident off the field as well. He graduated from the University in the spring of 2004 with a degree in business administration and is scheduled to receive his MBA this summer.
Matson realizes when his football days are over, it will be another uphill climb toward achieving his goal of being a successful business man.
“When it’
s time to get a real job, I’ll be the bottom man on the pole,” Matson said. “But I’ve been doing this since my freshman year of high school. I put a little work in and I get something out of it and keep on doing it.”
With practice having ended on a chilly Tuesday evening, Matson takes a rare break, sits on the back of a motorized cart outside of the Casanova Center and starts discussing his final weeks as a football player at Oregon.
Only when the hardest working man on the team is at rest does he realize the end is near.
“I’m getting philosophical,”
Matson said. “I have two games left to be mean and hit people and do the things you’ll never get to do for the rest of your life. You can’t run and cut someone down or lay someone out on the street. You have to take advantage of your time at practice. Sometimes it’s painstaking to go an extra day, but it’s so close to the end that I just have to take it in and enjoy it.”
Whether Oregon goes to a bowl game is yet to be determined. Whether the Ducks have two or three games left won’t change the fact that Matson’s legacy will stay with the team long after he’s moved on with his life.
“He’s highly regarded on the team because everyone knows his story,” Pellum said. “The fact that he’s a walk-on and that he’s earned it and that he’s been starting for two years, but he continues to work with the same ethic that got him here. Sometimes guys, once they achieve that goal, they don’t put out the same effort.
“Jerry is one of those self-made guys.”

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