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RB Tom Matte (All B1G, 2-time Pro Bowler, All Pro, Super Bowl Champion, RIP)

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Tom Matte
Tom Matte Date of birth: June 14, 1939
Place of birth: Pittsburgh, PA
Career information
Position(s): RB
College: Ohio State
NFL Draft: 1961 / Round: 1 / Pick 7
Organizations
As player:
1961-1972 Baltimore Colts
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowls: 1968, 1969

Thomas Roland Matte (born June 14, 1939, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was an American football player who played quarterback in college and (mostly) running back in the NFL in the 1960s and 1970s and earned a Super Bowl Ring. He attended Shaw High School in East Cleveland and is an Eagle Scout. Matte was an All-American back at Ohio State University.

Playing career
Matte's 12-year pro career was spent with the Baltimore Colts where he posted career stats of 4,646 rushing yards, 249 receptions for 2,869 yards, 1,367 yards returning kickoffs, and 57 touchdowns (45 rushing, 12 receiving). Late in the 1965 season, Matte also memorably filled in as an emergency quarterback when Colts QBs Johnny Unitas and Gary Cuozzo went down with season-ending injuries in consecutive home losses to the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, respectively. For the Colts' regular-season finale (a 20-17 win) against the Los Angeles Rams and the following weekend's one-game playoff at Green Bay (a 13-10 overtime loss resulting from a missed Packer field goal that was erroneously ruled good), Colts head coach Don Shula put a list of plays on a wristband that Matte wore. That wristband is now on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Later in his career, Matte was immortalized on the cover of Sports Illustrated, scoring his third touchdown of the afternoon in the NFL Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns, January 5, 1969.

Matte was selected for two Pro Bowls and played in two Super Bowls, earning a ring at Super Bowl V where the Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys. In Super Bowl III, he rushed for 116 yards and caught 2 passes for 30 yards. He still holds the record for highest per-carry rushing average in a Super Bowl game: 10.5 (116 yards in only 11 carries in 1969 versus the New York Jets).

Broadcasting career
Matte briefly was a color analyst on CBS coverage of football games. From 1996-2005, Matte teamed with Baltimore sportscaster Scott Garceau in broadcasting Baltimore Ravens games on local radio. He also pursues local business interests and is in demand as a celebrity endorser.

Tom Matte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom Matte

As a Buckeye: The Pittsburgh-born Matte was recruited out of East Cleveland Shaw High School by Woody Hayes, who made him the Buckeyes' starting quarterback in 1959 and '60. Mainly he handed off to Bob Ferguson, but Matte also could take it around the end or pass it a little.

As a pro: A first-round selection (No. 7 overall) of Baltimore in 1961, Matte played his entire 12-year career with the Colts. He finished his career with 4,646 yards rushing, 2,869 yards receiving and 57 total touchdowns. He rushed for 116 yards in a Super Bowl III upset loss to the Jets and was a member of the 1970 Colts team that won a Super Bowl.

The skinny: Matte isn't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but a piece of his equipment is. After injuries to Johnny Unitas and Gary Cuozzo late in the 1965 season, Matte was forced to take over as Colts quarterback for two games. Coach Don Shula affixed a list of plays to his wristband, which resides in Canton.

GameDay+

Top Ten Most Versatile: Tom Matte
Published: March 18, 2008

The No. 10 most versatile player of all-time is former Baltimore Colts running back Tom Matte (1961-72).

NFL Videos: Top Ten Most Versatile: Tom Matte

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Vo6TNg4Jc]YouTube - Tom Matte Interview 11-26-09.AVI[/ame]
 
Memory Lane: A history-changing mistake
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By: John Lewis
Burlington County Times

It wasn't just a call so bad and so wrong that it changed the rules. It may have altered the NFL so radically that you can make a case for calling it a turning point in NFL history.

Here's what happened: The Baltimore Colts lost quarterback John Unitas and backup Gary Cuozzo to injuries during the 1965 season. They grabbed Pittsburgh Steelers castoff Ed Brown late in the year, and Brown delivered a 68-yard touchdown to John Mackey -- the tying points in a season-saving win over the Los Angeles Rams in their regular-season finale.

For the playoffs, though, they turned to halfback Tom Matte, who'd been a quarterback at Ohio State University. Matte had a list of plays taped to a plastic wristband -- now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was under center for the 10-3-1 Colts when they met the Green Bay Packers in a Divisional Playoff game on this day, December 26, 1965.

PhillyBurbs.com: ?Memory Lane: A history-changing mistake
 
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QB Club starting off with NFL legend Matte
By TYLER CLEVELAND ? American Sports Writer ? August 29, 2010

The Hub City Quarterback Club is ready to kick off an exciting season of meetings Tuesday, when they welcome former Baltimore Colts great Tom Matte.

Matte, the club?s first guest, is a Pittsburgh native who was an All-American at Ohio State before playing 12 years in the NFL, mostly as a running back. He was invited to two Pro Bowls and played in two Super Bowls.

Even more interesting, he played with Johnny Unitas and for coach Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history. One season, Matte had to take over for Unitas and backup quarterback Gary Cuozzo after both went down with season-ending injuries in back-to-back weeks.

The story goes, Shula was the first coach to write plays on a wrist band, and Matte was the first quarterback to wear it.

The wrist band is on display in the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

QB Club starting off with NFL legend Matte | hattiesburgamerican.com | Hattiesburg American
 
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Colt icon Matte in town for celebrity golf tournament
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Happy to support Hope for the Warriors
September 28, 2010
Rick Scoppe
The Daily News

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As he chatted before the rain-shortened first round of the Scarlet & Gold Invitational Celebrity Golf Tournament fund-raiser for Hope for the Warriors, ex-Baltimore Colt star Tom Matte could not help but recall another trip he took many years ago to help the nation?s armed forces.

Matte, a first-round NFL draft choice out of Ohio State who went on to play for the Colts from 1961 to 1972, joined four others, including future NFL Hall of Famers Bob Lilly and Lem Barney, for a monthlong hospital tour of Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines and Guam during the Vietnam War.

?We did the hospital tour over there, thinking that we could help these guys,? Matte said in the dining room Monday at the Jacksonville Country Club. ?It was a joke. These guys helped us more than we ever thought of helping them. They gave us such an unbelievable attitude. The esprit de corps you might say of the military is just so fantastic.

?These wounded warriors are coming home and facing life in reality. We?re playing sports, having a great time doing it. So my heart goes out to them. The athletes that are here, they all feel the same way I do. It?s a very, very special time, and anything we can do to help our armed service people, the guys will do it.?

http://www.jdnews.com/sports/town-83052-rain-colt.html

Scoppe column: Matte says football 'old-timers' not taken care of
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September 29, 2010
Rick Scoppe
The Daily News

Some might say Tom Matte is just another old NFL veteran who?s upset that he and his fellow Colts and Packers and Bears, oh my, missed out on the millions going to today?s Rams (that?s St. Louis, not Los Angeles) and Cardinals (that?s Arizona, not St. Louis).

And they?d be right ? and wrong.

Matte is upset, although only mildly so for himself. He joked that he always tells everyone he?s mad at his mother for having him 40 years too early and missing out on the big bucks in the NFL these days.

But he is joking. You get the feeling Matte would never trade playing with quarterback Johnny Unitas and under legendary coaches Weeb Ewbank and Don Shula for all the money in the NFL these days.

The 71-year-old Matte might be willing, however, to bargain to help former players who are hurting both financially and physically, especially those from the 1950s through the 1970s who laid the foundation for what the NFL is today.

?I was a No. 1 draft choice for the Colts in 1961. My salary was $10,000 and a $4,000 bonus,? said Matte, who was in town this week for the Scarlet & Gold Invitational Celebrity Golf Tournament fund-raiser for Hope for the Warriors.

http://www.jdnews.com/sports/old-83085-matte-care.html
 
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Man you just crushed Cleveland in so many ways... Good health to ya and thanks for your time. Any chance you could post a pic holding a sign saying sorry Cleveland? HAHAHA

Cleveland is my home town, and I grew up playing HS ball there and went to Ohio State to play college ball. The city of Cleveland did not respond to the needs of Art Modell, the Cleveland stadium was in dire need and the city didn't respond to Modell.

Who's your favorite running back of all time? Mines eddy george.

Eddie George was a buck-eye, and a good one. My favorite would probably was Hugh Edward McElhenny.

I'm a Michigan fan. Did you have much interaction with Bo Schembechler while he was at Ohio State? What was he like? What was his relationship with Woody like?

Bo Schembechler was the coach that I reported to under Hayes. Bo was a good friend, all through my professional career and he left to Miami of Ohio, and convinced my brother, Bruce to play there, Where he became an all American QB.

Bo, always a class act. From Miami he went to Michigan and it became one of the biggest rivalries.

How do you feel playing for Woody Hayes at Ohio State helped shape you as a football player and a man?

Woody was a tough coach to play for. He expected a great deal out of you, but he made sure he took care of his athletes and got them degrees. I was fortunate to have him as a coach, I became a bigger friend of his after leaving Ohio state.

As a former player on the team, how do you feel about Ohio State being ineligible to qualify for a bowl game this year while they are currently undefeated? *but won't be for long--GO BLUE! :) /wolverine fan*

Tresell in my opinion is a great coach, but he was thrown under the bus. Theres rules and regulations and you have to pay the price for what you have done.

Tom Matte blog
 
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I remember him from my high school days up in Cleveland. He was a tremendous high school player. I believe he went to Cleveland Shaw if my memory serves me correct. Glad I didn't have to play against him in high school.
 
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I was in school with Tom Matte during his playing time at OSU from 1958-60. He was a friend of mine, and in a couple of classes with me. I also was a business aquaintence with him in the 70's, who he called on as a Salesman. Tom basically was a RB here at OSU from Shaw High School in Cleveland Ohio. He was 6-1" and weighed 214 lbs. His college career here at was so -so, and may best be know of how Woody Hayes initally used him in a specific game. The 1959 season was pretty much a disaster for the Buckeyes as they ended up 3-5-1.

In that 1959 opener aganist Duke Woody's team got a blow when starting QB Jerry Fields went down with an arm injury. OSU was leading Duke 7-0 at the half, and Woody took Matte, center Jene Watkins and a couple of other players out of the South end of the Horseshoe to a practice field and had Matte take snaps and try passing the ball. Woody decided that Tom could do the job, but started reserve QB Jack Wallace in the 2nd half , but he could not move the Buckeyes in the 2nd half....the Duke team score twice in the meantime and had a 13-7 lead when Woody Installed Matte at QB. In almost magical style Matte moved the Buckeyes down the field 63 yards for the winning score in the closing moments of the game.. Matte scored on a 4th and 22 yard rollout TD pass to Chuck Bryant for the single point win 14-13.

Matte played QB back and forth with RB the rest of the 1959 and 1960 career. Those season were not anything speical... Matte and Woody were two that went at each other most of the time.....then in the first round of the 1961 pro draft, Matte was the 7th pick in the 1st round and went to the Baltimore Colts.

What happened next is in the NFL history books...Tom Matte played from 1961 to 1972(12 years) wiht Baltimore as a RB gaining 4646 career rushing yards, 2869 reception yards with 249 catches and 1367 kick off return yards scoring 57 total TD's in his pro career.

However..Matte the Quarterback? He got to play in 2 games under center! In the 1965 season that appeared again as John Unatis and Gary Guozzo went down wiht injuries, right at the wrong time and Don Shula was wringing his hands as what to do...In a telecon wiht Woody Hayes, Woody convinced Shula to try Matte at QB,,,Shula made up and fitted a plastic wristband on Matte's arm with all the Colt's plays on it, they had developed for Matte. Matte and the wristband became NFL history when he used the wristband to help run plays and beat the LA Rams 20-17 in the season's last game.
Still in 1965 playing for the conference win, the Colts then lost 13-10 in Overtime to the Green Bay Packers in the game as the Colts got a controversial call on a 4th quarter FG that appeared wide . Matte was selected to the 1968 and 1969 Prow Bowl Teams. His famous wristband is enshrined in the NFL Hall Of fame.

During his career, Matte earned the name"garbage Man" during his career and his playing days. Many of us Buckeye fans do not think of Matte when we mention Buckeye QB's that played in the NFL. He is still a legend in the city of Baltimore and the Colts Organization.




Found this old post from another site in 2016......
 
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FORMER OHIO STATE QUARTERBACK TOM MATTE DIES AT 82 YEARS OLD

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Former Ohio State quarterback and 1960 team MVP Tom Matte has died.

The former Buckeye, who went on to be an All-Pro running back for the Baltimore Colts, died at the age of 82, the Baltimore Ravens said Wednesday in a statement. Per the Baltimore Sun, Matte passed away at his home on Tuesday.

Matte began his career at Ohio State as a running back, but moved to quarterback in 1959 due to injuries at the position and went on to finish seventh in the Heisman Trophy standings in 1960, when he threw for 737 yards and eight touchdowns and ran for 682 yards and two touchdowns to lead Ohio State to a 7-2 record. He earned All-Big Ten honors and was selected with the Colts with the No. 7 overall pick in the 1961 NFL draft.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...te-quarterback-tom-matte-dies-at-82-years-old

R.I.P.
 
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