Green Bay Packers All-Pro linebacker Clay Matthews talks NFL Combine season (1:50), the weirdest question he got at the combine (4:07), drilling cousin Jake Matthews in the NFC Championship Game (5:20) and crafting with Busy Philipps (9:58). Listen to the full podcast on iTunes.
When Clay Matthews arrived at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2009, he was considered a borderline first-round pick. The future All-Pro linebacker was put under the microscope, physically and mentally.
One unnamed franchise went the extra mile:
"I had one team ask if I was gonna cut my hair if they drafted me," Matthews says on ThePostGame Podcast.
Of course, Matthews' hair -- usually flowing out of his helmet but sometimes in a ponytail off the field -- has become a staple of his image. And it doesn't affect his play. Matthews has made six Pro Bowls, won an NFC Defensive Player of the Year Award and won a Super Bowl in his eight seasons.
One franchise didn't even send its football personnel to meet with Matthews.
"I had another team, I didn't meet with any coaches," Matthews remembers. "I simply sat down in front of -- I believe it was a psychologist -- and I believe they just wanted to ask a couple questions. I'm not sure how that relates to the football field. I've had some interesting experiences out there in Indianapolis."
Reminiscing on the combine, Matthews notes he was more prepared than most prospects. His father, Clay Jr., was a Pro Bowler, (which means he is officially Clay Matthews III) and his uncle, Bruce, is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Matthews' grandfather, Clay Sr., also played in the NFL.
"Sometimes you see a lot of rookies get lost in the shuffle of now having a significant paycheck, as well as the fame and expectations that are thrown at them," Matthews says. "But for me, growing up in a football family where not only my father played, but my uncle and my grandfather, so many of us, we realized it truly was a business from the get-go. It wasn't like college. You have to show up each and every week and you're playing against the best in the world and I think that led to my success as a rookie and early on in my career that I understood what was being asked of me, even at a young age."
Matthews was the No. 26 overall pick by the Packers. On draft day, the Packers traded a second-rounder and two third-rounders to the Patriots for picks in the first and fifth rounds, with the former becoming Matthews. It was worth the trade.
NFL teams, beware. Sometimes asking about a player's hair or sending a psychologist is not the best way to evaluate talent.
Matthews spoke to ThePostGame on behalf of Michaels' "The Make Off" series. Matthews has an upcoming crafting video with Busy Philipps, and he says his favorite Philipps movie is White Chicks.
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