Sept. 16, 2015
Commodore History Corner Archive
For former Vanderbilt tight end Allama Matthews (1979-82), his first two seasons as a Commodore were uneventful. But a change in positions would eventually result in an All-American senior year.
“In my freshman year I played wide receiver and then in the spring they moved me to defensive back,” Matthews said recently from his Chicago home. “I started out my sophomore season as a safety. I had some injury issues that I could not overcome.
“The coaching staff was disappointed that I could not help the team so they ended up putting me back on offense. Coach Watson Brown came in as offensive coordinator in the spring before my junior year when they moved me to tight end. He recognized my talent and utilized me in his offensive schemes.”
Matthews was born and raised in Jacksonville, Fla., and, besides Vanderbilt, was recruited by Wake Forest, Tulane, Miami (Fla), Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman. Coach George MacIntyre was in his first season at Vanderbilt, replacing Fred Pancoast. The Commodores had three losing seasons before Matthews’ arrival.
“One of the biggest things that had me choose Vanderbilt were the teams that recruited me wanted me to play defense,” said Matthews. “Vanderbilt said I could play wide receiver though they were recruiting me as a safety. They were the only ones that would give me a chance on offense.
“I had a good friend, Charles Edwards, that played at Vandy two years before me. He was instrumental in recruiting me to Vanderbilt. I felt like I could be a part of a team that could win games and become successful. The rebuilding part with Coach MacIntyre coming in as a new coach was impressive. His vision of what Vanderbilt could be was huge for me. Coach Mac sold me on what it was he was going to do and what he wanted from his players.”
In Matthews first two seasons, he caught a pair of passes for 10 yards and as a sophomore recorded one pass for 33 yards. The Commodores were 1-10 (SEC, 0-6) and 2-9 (SEC, 0-6).
“As a freshman, I made the traveling team playing behind Preston Brown, who was an All-SEC performer and later played in the NFL,” Matthews said. “I learned a lot about work ethic and working hard. Just to make the travel team was a goal of mine. I was traveling to all the games. My sophomore year was disappointing.
“I had very high expectations of helping the team to win, but unfortunately I was not able to do that. I went from starting as a defensive back to getting hurt. I was not traveling because of the injury. It was extremely frustrating for me not to play much that year. By the end of the year I was back traveling and played in the last couple of games.
“When I was hurt and not traveling I was wondering if this was the place for me and the place for me to stay. I just toughened it out and thought I’d make the most of it. It forced me to dig in deep. I knew this was what I wanted so I worked harder that offseason to right the ship. Then they moved me to tight end in the spring.”
The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder led all SEC tight ends in receptions (50) to along with 704 yards and four touchdowns. Matthews’ best game was against Tennessee as he collected 10 catches for 177 yards. Wide receiver Wamon Buggs led the Commodores in receiving with 54 receptions and 778 yards and four TDs. Vanderbilt was 4-7 (SEC, 1-5) with victories over Maryland, Mississippi, Memphis and UT-Chattanooga.
How did Matthews have such a breakout year?
“It is really hard to explain because where I was in my sophomore year to my junior year had to do with me wanting to gain the trust of my teammates,” Matthews said. “I got an understanding of where I was and where I wanted to be. It was very gratifying to know that the hard work paid off. More importantly, we all worked hard to improve, which would make me improve.
“The class I came in with was Coach Mac’s first recruiting class. We all came in together believing in what the coaches were doing. When everybody was on the same page it really took off. For me personally it was about grit, biting the bullet and practicing hard every single day. And working in the spring and summer so by the time the season had started I was prepared. And the system we had worked.”
Another Commodore that had a breakout season was quarterback Whit Taylor. The junior passed for 2,318 connecting on 209-of-357 passes and 15 six-pointers. Matthews became a favorite target for Taylor.
“Offensively, we could move the ball on just about anybody,” Matthews said. “Unfortunately, sometimes we just couldn’t get the ball into the end zone. We could move the ball within the 20-yard lines, but buckled inside the red zone. We only won four games, but there were a lot of games where we played well enough to win, but fell short. Going into our senior year we took that with us and built on it. Our confidence level rose tremendously that season. We knew we could be competitive with anyone.”
As a senior, Matthews scored four touchdowns against Virginia Tech in a 45-0 Commodore rout. The four TDs were a Vanderbilt record for most touchdowns in a game by a receiver. It was also an SEC record at the time. That Commodore record lasted until 2005 when Earl Bennett collected five touchdowns against Kentucky.
“They had one of the top ranked defenses in the country,” Matthews said of Virginia Tech. “We knew that there was a possibility for us to play in a bowl game, which a Vanderbilt team had not done in a while. We were clicking on all cylinders that day. The play calling and the game plan with Coach Brown and Coach MacIntyre was right on the money.
“It was like they knew what defense Virginia Tech was in and most of the time a perfect play was called. Whit was calling great plays; the receivers were running great routes. It was one of the most fulfilling games I’d ever played in whether it was Pee Wee, high school, college or professionally. I just happened to be in the right passing routes and was open on those touchdown catches.”
Another big win for Vanderbilt during the 1982 season was over Tennessee on Dudley Field. Taylor scored a late fourth-quarter touchdown to preserve the 28-21 victory. Despite being from the state of Florida, Matthews still knew the importance of Vanderbilt playing the Vols.
“As a Vanderbilt player that is your rivalry game,” Matthews said. “From my freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years we got closer and closer to beating UT. My junior year it came down to the last play of the game. I was involved in a play in the end zone, whether there was pass interference or not. But they won it. To come back our senior year was beyond belief that we had come that far in four years.
“When it came to reading the defenses Whit took whatever the defenses gave him. It really didn’t matter who was running what route. If a particular route was open, he was going to find it. We did a lot of read routes where we read the coverage and adjusted our routes on the run. It was important that we were in sync with the quarterback. If I made an adjustment on the rout and he didn’t recognize it then there was a problem. If we were on the same page taking advantage of what the defense was giving us we were going to pick up yardage. We had confidence in Whit.”
Matthews scored 14 touchdowns in 1982 for a team record for most touchdowns in a single season by a receiver. It was also a then-SEC record. Vanderbilt finished the season 8-4 (4-2 SEC) and received an invitation to the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham against Air Force. This was the first bowl game for Vanderbilt since the 1974 Peach Bowl and just the program’s third bowl game.
The Commodores lost the game 36-28. Norman Jordan had 20 receptions running out of the backfield. Matthews caught two passes for 21 yards against the Falcons.
“All the credit has to go to Whit,” said Matthews. “They double-teamed me most of the game. That would happen to me periodically during the season. They made a special effort to make sure two guys were on me. Whit took advantage of that. Norman was one-on-one and ran great routes. He got the ball to Norman all day. It was about winning and being part of a team. They gave him Norman, but unfortunately we didn’t score enough points to win the game.”
Matthews finished the season with 61 receptions and 797 yards. For his efforts as a senior, Matthews was named First Team All-SEC and was a First Team All-American selection by Football News. Joining Matthews on that All-American roster were future NFL legends Bruce Matthews, John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Mike Rozier, Herschel Walker and Vanderbilt punter Jim Arnold.
The Atlanta Touchdown Club also named Matthews their SEC Offensive Lineman of the Year. Matthews’ 18 career touchdown receptions rank fifth all-time in the Vanderbilt record book.
Matthews was invited to play in the East/West Shrine game.
“Anytime you have the opportunity to be recognized for your talents, getting invited to a game like that was something special,” said Matthews. “I was on the field with guys like John Elway and Jim Kelly that became icons in the NFL. It was a great week for me. The majority of the guys played in the NFL and some are in the National Football Hall of Fame.”
Matthews was selected in the 12th round (193 overall) of the 1983 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons.
“It was a long day,” Matthews said. “At that time the draft was held in one day. I had been told I would go anywhere between the second and eighth rounds. I was not a proto-typical tight end. I didn’t have the size and speed that the NFL looked for in a tight end. I did have some weaknesses, but I also had some strengths.
“As the day went along I wasn’t sure if I was going to be drafted or not. Had I not been drafted I probably would have signed with Atlanta as a free agent. They had a coaching change and the new offense Atlanta was putting in used an H-back, a traditional and a pass-catching tight end. I felt that I would have fit in their system very well. I was not a traditional tight end that did a lot of blocking and some pass catching.”
In Matthews’ three seasons in Atlanta the Falcons were 7-9, 4-12 and 4-12 under coach Dan Henning. His three-year career stats include 37 games, 11 receptions, 101 yards (9.2 avg.) and one touchdown.
“Since I was not a starter I played mostly on special teams as a backup player,” Matthews said. “I was on the edge of the kickoff team, on the punting team protecting the punter, and punt return team setting up a return for one of our speed guys. I did a lot of the dirty work, but it was a great experience.
“I had a lot of opportunities to be on the field with some great players. I think all kids involved in sports want their talents to take them to the highest level possible. Making it to the NFL is a tremendous accomplishment. I don’t care who you are.”
Matthews did have some great moments and experiences in the NFL.
“There are two things that jump out at me when I think about playing in the NFL,” said Matthews. “As a kid growing up I always idolized (former Houston Oilers receiver) Billy “White Shoes” Johnson. I thought he was the world. When I got to Atlanta he had been traded and now I am playing with him. I used to tell him all the time how I idolized him and now he is my teammate. I don’t know if he got a kick out of that or not. I’d be playing as a kid in Florida and I always wanted to be Billy “White Shoes” Johnson. It was an honor for me to play with him.
“The other thing that really stands out was playing against Lawrence Taylor. Lawrence was one of the greatest linebackers of all time. It didn’t take me long to realize that. We would play in the summer camps against New York. They’d come to Atlanta for a weekend. He was one individual you could not block. I don’t care what you did or how you tried, he was unbelievable. He was somebody that was all over the field and very football savvy. He knew how to get to the football very quickly. He played above all of us.”
What about that one touchdown reception?
“I was lucky I caught it,” Matthews said. “I almost dropped it. It was a play against Dallas where we had a play to fake a power run and then the quarterback would look for me in the end zone. As I ran past the defensive back somehow my feet got tangled while the ball was in the air. I started falling before the ball got to me. It did look awkward, but I did make the catch for my one and only touchdown in the NFL. Dallas was my favorite childhood team, but once I got into the NFL I did not have much love for them.”
After three seasons with the Flacons and the NFL, Matthews decided to retire.
“During my second year I cracked a vertebrae in my neck,” said Matthews. “That is why I only played in six games. We were playing in San Francisco and I made a tackle on a 49er punt return. One of my teammates hit me at the same time we hit the 49ers’ player and I cracked a vertebrae. I did come back and played the next year, but I was never the same. I knew I couldn’t perform at a high level anymore.”
Until a few years ago, Matthews was an SEC football official for over 20 years. Matthews retired as an official due to having bad knees from the wear and tear running on the field. He followed the footsteps of other longtime college officials from Vanderbilt – Don Orr, Charley Horton and Boyce Smith.
“When you think about the game of football playing is No. 1, the next thing is coaching and to me the next step is being an official,” Matthews said. “It was a game I really enjoyed and wanted to stayed involved. I had some friends who were officials and they got me involved.
“I started working little kids’ games, junior high and high school. Then I contacted some of the college conferences and worked my way into the SEC. The first eight years I was a line judge, and then I became a head linesman. I was living in Atlanta at the time.
“I officiated about 14 bowl games, including the biggest to me which was the 2009 Rose Bowl (USC defeated Penn State 34-28). I was also involved in several SEC championship games. But the most exciting to me were the Auburn-Alabama games. It doesn’t matter what their records were or how they were ranked. It was unbelievable the way those two teams played against each other.”
Matthews has been a manager for FedEx for nearly 30 years and is now living in Chicago. He transferred from Atlanta nine years ago after marrying a “Chicago girl.”
Matthews was asked about being a graduate and a student-athlete at Vanderbilt.
“Having the opportunity to go to Vanderbilt helped shaped my life,” said Matthews. “I was raised by my mom and there is no way she could have afforded a college tuition. I was one of the first in my family to go to college and graduate.
“Having a degree from Vanderbilt and being a part of that culture made me proud of the university and what it stands for. That has been a big part of who I am. When I look back at all the accolades and awards that I received, it is surreal to think back to those days about where I came from and what I accomplished. It is a satisfying feeling.”
Traughber’s Tidbit: There have been 37 Vanderbilt football All-Americans, with the first selection Owsley Manier in 1906. Manier was a three-year starter, helping Coach Dan McGugin (1904-17, 1919-34) and the Commodores become a Southern football power. He was a fullback that scored five touchdowns against Alabama in a 78-0 victory. Manier would return to Vanderbilt and became professor of emeritus of clinical medicine at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine.
Tidbit Two: Vanderbilt has produced two All-Americans in the same year four times. These are Irby “Rabbit” Curry and Josh Cody, 1916; Bill Wade and Bob Werckle, 1951; Allama Matthews and Jim Arnold, 1982; Chuck Scott and Leonard Coleman, 1983.
Tidbit Three: Four of these All-Americans are in the National College Football Hall of Fame. They are Ray Morrison (1908-11), Josh Cody (1914-16, 1919), Lynn Bomar (1922-24), Bill Spears (1925-27) and Carl Hinkle (1935-37). Morrison was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach with a career record of 155-130-34 at SMU, Vanderbilt, Temple and Austin.
If you have any comments or suggestions contact Bill Traughber via email WLTraughber@aol.com.
