Matthews Family Matters
Apr 10, 2020 | Football
Growing up with six siblings means there is never a dull moment for anyone, and that is the reigning best and worst thing about growing up in the Matthews household.
Rising sophomore Luke Matthews is the sixth of seven children and the youngest of five brothers, and he's the fourth to attend and play football at Texas A&M.
Any of the Matthews siblings could list the pros and cons of growing up in such a busy home, and everyone has their own experiences depending on where they fall in line, but given how close they remain to this day, none of them would have it any other way.
"I've always loved it, I've loved having a big family," Luke said. "That feeling of having everyone around together was always so fun. If one person is busy you can just go to the next if you wanted to hang out. We have always been such a close family, especially being the youngest brother, I always looked up to all my older siblings. It was always such a blessing and so fun for me to grow up in a big house where everyone was so close together. I think all of my siblings would say we have a very close relationship."
All three of the oldest siblings, Steven, Kevin and Marilyn, attended different colleges and traveled different paths into adulthood. While sports often kept the competitive family busy, it was never something where they had to participate.
Kevin was the first college athlete of the siblings and unknowingly at the time, he began a tradition in the Matthews household. Kevin decided to attend Texas A&M and walked on to the football team. Hard work, dedication and his own cheering section at Kyle Field saw Kevin earn a starting job in his final two seasons. The family packed a cooler with sandwiches and snacks, and made the 90-minute drive from the Houston area to all of his home games. It was their first real taste of Aggieland and it never disappointed.
Kevin went undrafted following his senior season, but signed a free agent contract and played five seasons in the NFL. As he started his professional career, his brother Jake arrived in College Station to begin an outstanding collegiate career. Jake became a starter as a freshman and despite his high draft stock, he opted for a fourth year in Aggieland, much to the delight of his brother Mike.
"We only played together two years, my freshman year was his junior year. I loved it, it was so much fun. He's my best friend, he was the Best Man at my wedding," Mike remembers. "Some of my favorite times in college were just hanging out in our house watching late-night shows, staying up late and laughing.
"We both really love working out. It was really fun being able to train in the offseason together and then have this opportunity in college. Especially Jake having the status that he had and the opportunity to leave after his junior year to be a potential first round draft pick. At the moment I didn't really think about it, whatever his decision was I would be happy for him. When he made the decision to come back for his senior year I was really excited to be able to have another year to hang out with him."
As a middle schooler, football became different for Luke as he watched Jake and Mike play at A&M, and saw Jake eventually be selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft and continue playing at the next level. While he still remained the proud brother he was when he was in the stands as a second graders for Kevin's games, he remembers beginning to really learn what is takes to be good at the game they all love.
"I thought it was so fun watching their games, especially when they were playing together," Luke said. "That's when Johnny [Manziel] was here, so all the games were electric and there was always something interesting going on. I started being able to appreciate football more for what it is to me now. How much skill it really does take, and the preparation it takes to compete at the level they did. It was just awesome to watch them do well in games. I was so excited, I would just be watching them the whole play and something would happen down field and I would miss it because I was just watching them."
Too young to remember witnessing his father Bruce Matthews' 19-year Hall of Fame NFL playing career, Luke spent most of his life watching his brothers work their way up, while unsuccessfully avoiding being the easy target for everyone to pick on. But even the seemingly negative qualities of having so many siblings could be turned into a positive. Luke was excited to have his chance to play football like his brothers and didn't mind the idea of finally getting his chance to pick on someone else for a change.
"Football was a pretty easy choice for me. I've always been a bigger kid than everyone else. I've always been taking these beatings as the youngest, but then it was my turn to dish some stuff out," Luke said. "From day one I fell in love with football. I played my first season with a broken foot as an 8-year old kid. I was just so excited to follow in my family's footsteps. It was such a cool thing to carry that name on my back, even as a little kid I loved it as much as I do now. I fell in love with it from the first day."
Luke's love for the game continued to grow as did his love for A&M. Unlikely a surprise to many people, Luke joined the family tradition and decided to play football for the Aggies. He admired his siblings that came before him so much, not only for what they were able to accomplish on the field, but for their hard work and dedication to what they set their mind to accomplish.
There is no shortage of people to look up to and things to learn from in the Matthews family, but maybe the most impactful lessons come from what the youngest member, Gwenie, teaches them on a daily basis. You can hear the happiness and care in their voices when Mike and Luke talk about their youngest sister. They gloat about her ability to always be herself and never pause, even for a second, to care what anyone thinks of her. A teenager with Down syndrome, Gwenie fits right in in this well-known family. A star in her own right, she loves to dance and sing, and never passes up a moment to take the spotlight.
"She has always been such a bright light in not just my life, but the rest of my family," Luke said of his sister. "How she just shows unconditional love, and she just does not care what people think. Especially as a player at this level, I'm freaking out about everything I do, what everyone thinks, if people think I'm good or not. She loves dance and she does choir at school. She'll stand a few feet away from the group and she'll be dancing and singing. She doesn't care, she loves being the star of the show. It's so nice to see her just let loose and have fun. I sit there and ask myself, 'why can't I do that, that looks awesome.'"
Luke is able to go home and see Gwenie, along with nearly the rest of his family, every few weeks in the offseason. To hold him over between visits, he has his brother Kevin and his family right in his backyard. Despite Jake living in Atlanta for half the year, Kevin is tabbed as the sibling that lives the furthest away as he still calls College Station home. Everyone else has remained close by, in or around the Missouri City area where, for the most part, they grew up. Luke reaps the benefits of having his older brother live in town, visiting him when he can for a home-cooked dinner and some quality time with his nephews.
No matter how old they have gotten or how different their lives have become, the seven siblings remain as close as they have always been. They have survived the ups and downs of growing up together and consider themselves lucky to have each other as they continue to grow and learn from one another.
Rising sophomore Luke Matthews is the sixth of seven children and the youngest of five brothers, and he's the fourth to attend and play football at Texas A&M.
Any of the Matthews siblings could list the pros and cons of growing up in such a busy home, and everyone has their own experiences depending on where they fall in line, but given how close they remain to this day, none of them would have it any other way.
"I've always loved it, I've loved having a big family," Luke said. "That feeling of having everyone around together was always so fun. If one person is busy you can just go to the next if you wanted to hang out. We have always been such a close family, especially being the youngest brother, I always looked up to all my older siblings. It was always such a blessing and so fun for me to grow up in a big house where everyone was so close together. I think all of my siblings would say we have a very close relationship."
All three of the oldest siblings, Steven, Kevin and Marilyn, attended different colleges and traveled different paths into adulthood. While sports often kept the competitive family busy, it was never something where they had to participate.
Kevin was the first college athlete of the siblings and unknowingly at the time, he began a tradition in the Matthews household. Kevin decided to attend Texas A&M and walked on to the football team. Hard work, dedication and his own cheering section at Kyle Field saw Kevin earn a starting job in his final two seasons. The family packed a cooler with sandwiches and snacks, and made the 90-minute drive from the Houston area to all of his home games. It was their first real taste of Aggieland and it never disappointed.
Kevin went undrafted following his senior season, but signed a free agent contract and played five seasons in the NFL. As he started his professional career, his brother Jake arrived in College Station to begin an outstanding collegiate career. Jake became a starter as a freshman and despite his high draft stock, he opted for a fourth year in Aggieland, much to the delight of his brother Mike.
"We only played together two years, my freshman year was his junior year. I loved it, it was so much fun. He's my best friend, he was the Best Man at my wedding," Mike remembers. "Some of my favorite times in college were just hanging out in our house watching late-night shows, staying up late and laughing.
"We both really love working out. It was really fun being able to train in the offseason together and then have this opportunity in college. Especially Jake having the status that he had and the opportunity to leave after his junior year to be a potential first round draft pick. At the moment I didn't really think about it, whatever his decision was I would be happy for him. When he made the decision to come back for his senior year I was really excited to be able to have another year to hang out with him."
As a middle schooler, football became different for Luke as he watched Jake and Mike play at A&M, and saw Jake eventually be selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft and continue playing at the next level. While he still remained the proud brother he was when he was in the stands as a second graders for Kevin's games, he remembers beginning to really learn what is takes to be good at the game they all love.
"I thought it was so fun watching their games, especially when they were playing together," Luke said. "That's when Johnny [Manziel] was here, so all the games were electric and there was always something interesting going on. I started being able to appreciate football more for what it is to me now. How much skill it really does take, and the preparation it takes to compete at the level they did. It was just awesome to watch them do well in games. I was so excited, I would just be watching them the whole play and something would happen down field and I would miss it because I was just watching them."
Too young to remember witnessing his father Bruce Matthews' 19-year Hall of Fame NFL playing career, Luke spent most of his life watching his brothers work their way up, while unsuccessfully avoiding being the easy target for everyone to pick on. But even the seemingly negative qualities of having so many siblings could be turned into a positive. Luke was excited to have his chance to play football like his brothers and didn't mind the idea of finally getting his chance to pick on someone else for a change.
"Football was a pretty easy choice for me. I've always been a bigger kid than everyone else. I've always been taking these beatings as the youngest, but then it was my turn to dish some stuff out," Luke said. "From day one I fell in love with football. I played my first season with a broken foot as an 8-year old kid. I was just so excited to follow in my family's footsteps. It was such a cool thing to carry that name on my back, even as a little kid I loved it as much as I do now. I fell in love with it from the first day."
Luke's love for the game continued to grow as did his love for A&M. Unlikely a surprise to many people, Luke joined the family tradition and decided to play football for the Aggies. He admired his siblings that came before him so much, not only for what they were able to accomplish on the field, but for their hard work and dedication to what they set their mind to accomplish.
There is no shortage of people to look up to and things to learn from in the Matthews family, but maybe the most impactful lessons come from what the youngest member, Gwenie, teaches them on a daily basis. You can hear the happiness and care in their voices when Mike and Luke talk about their youngest sister. They gloat about her ability to always be herself and never pause, even for a second, to care what anyone thinks of her. A teenager with Down syndrome, Gwenie fits right in in this well-known family. A star in her own right, she loves to dance and sing, and never passes up a moment to take the spotlight.
"She has always been such a bright light in not just my life, but the rest of my family," Luke said of his sister. "How she just shows unconditional love, and she just does not care what people think. Especially as a player at this level, I'm freaking out about everything I do, what everyone thinks, if people think I'm good or not. She loves dance and she does choir at school. She'll stand a few feet away from the group and she'll be dancing and singing. She doesn't care, she loves being the star of the show. It's so nice to see her just let loose and have fun. I sit there and ask myself, 'why can't I do that, that looks awesome.'"
Luke is able to go home and see Gwenie, along with nearly the rest of his family, every few weeks in the offseason. To hold him over between visits, he has his brother Kevin and his family right in his backyard. Despite Jake living in Atlanta for half the year, Kevin is tabbed as the sibling that lives the furthest away as he still calls College Station home. Everyone else has remained close by, in or around the Missouri City area where, for the most part, they grew up. Luke reaps the benefits of having his older brother live in town, visiting him when he can for a home-cooked dinner and some quality time with his nephews.
No matter how old they have gotten or how different their lives have become, the seven siblings remain as close as they have always been. They have survived the ups and downs of growing up together and consider themselves lucky to have each other as they continue to grow and learn from one another.
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