Players

Mathews (6-0, 218) is a three-year running back in his third season with the Cahrgers. 

Ryan Mathews made quite an ascent from year one to year two of his NFL career, capping off a 1,500-yard season with an invitation to play in the 2012 Pro Bowl.

Chosen by teammates as the Chargers’ Offensive Player of the Year, Mathews rushed for 1,091 yards in 2011 and added 455 as a pass-catcher to become just the 14th player in team history to top 1,500 total yards from scrimmage. He was originally tabbed a second-alternate for the AFC Pro Bowl roster, but was invited when two players ahead of him pulled out of the game. Mathews was deserving of the honor after a season in which he ranked seventh in the NFL in scrimmage yards, 10th in rushing yards and seventh again in yards per carry.

Only the 10th player in team history to top 1,000 yards rushing, Mathews really found his legs late in the season, rushing for more than 100 yards in three-straight games against Denver, Jacksonville and Buffalo. During that same stretch, he put together a string of five-straight games in which he had at least one run of 20 yards or longer. Only two other players in franchise history, Natrone Means and Paul Lowe, had similar streaks. Mathews’ average of 4.9 yards per carry became the sixth-highest in team history (min. 200 attempts).

Mathews and backfield-mate Mike Tolbert also provided a boost in the Chargers’ passing game as Mathews caught 50 passes and their combined total of 104 was the second-most by any running back tandem in the NFL.

Mathews was the Chargers’ first-round pick in the ’10 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he and Tolbert became the only running back duo in franchise history to score at least seven rushing touchdowns each, and they became the franchise’s first rushing duo to each top 600 yards since 1993.

Mathews’ path to the NFL was a difficult one. He was raised by a single mother, Tricia, who gave birth when she was just 16. With her own mother battling a drug addiction, Tricia turned to relatives to find a place to stay and raise Ryan. Unfortunately, Tricia ran out of options and ultimately settled on the backseat of her 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Their story is both heartbreaking and inspiring. After several months of living in the car, bathing and washing Ryan’s clothes at a public park and feeding him from a Riverside, California soup kitchen, Tricia found a stable home with her grandmother, Glenna, in nearby Tehachapi.

With a roof over her head, Tricia found work while her grandmother looked after young Ryan. Tricia worked up to three jobs a day to save money and support her son. After years of saving and living with Ryan’s grandmother, Tricia had saved enough money to move them to Bakersfield, where Ryan enrolled at West High School. It was there that Tricia landed a well-paying job, but one of the drawbacks was that it included extensive travel. At the time, the Mathews household had grown by one as Ryan’s best friend, Dante, had moved in with them to escape a home rife with drug use. With Tricia away working, Ryan and Dante often had the apartment to themselves and as a result, Ryan’s academics began a steady slide.

Things became particularly bad following a 235-yard, six-touchdown performance by Mathews in the league championship game his junior year. With a D-average and on the verge of being ineligible for his senior year, Mathews was challenged by both his mother and Fresno State Head Coach Pat Hill. It was a crossroads for the budding star. His mother’s plea carried the most weight as she reminded him of the sacrifices she made to raise him and it had a profound effect. Mathews fulfilled a promise to buckle down in school. He maintained his eligibility and proceeded to put together a 3,396-yard, 44-touchdown senior season that had coaches calling from across the country.

Despite the attention, Mathews stayed true to his commitment to Fresno State’s Hill. A classic downhill runner with a blend of power and speed, Mathews broke out as a junior at FSU, rushing for a school-record and NCAA-leading 1,808 yards and 19 touchdowns. He tallied 17 runs of at least 20 yards and enjoyed some of his best days against the nation’s top defenses, including a 234-yard, three-touchdown performance against Boise State. Mathews became the only player in the nation to rush for more than 100 yards against three Top-25 teams in 2009, doing so against No. 5 Cincinnati, No. 6 Boise St. and No. 14 Wisconsin.

Eager to make amends to his mother for her sacrifices and right earlier wrongs, Mathews applied for early entry to the 2010 NFL Draft. Ironically, one of Mathews’ childhood heroes was LaDainian Tomlinson and Mathews secretly hoped to be drafted by the Chargers. Unbeknownst, the Chargers were so smitten with Mathews that they traded up 16 spots to select Mathews with the 12th overall pick in the first round. And coincidentally, he became the first running back selected by the Chargers in the first round since Tomlinson in 2001.

 Mathews and his mom now oversee the Trish and Ryan Mathews Door of Hope Chest Foundation. They partnered with the Salvation Army and assist homeless women and children transition to independent living.

In his free time, Mathews is a big video gamer and one of his favorite games is World of Warcraft. In January, Mathews visited Blizzard Entertainment’s headquarters in Irvine, Calif. to tour the facilities and meet the game’s development team.