Like Bombers, Matthews is all business

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This article was published 19/09/2019 (2213 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chris Matthews has been around professional football long enough not to take anything too personal. So, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers made the decision to release him in mid-August, terminating the receiver’s three-year contract just months after signing it, Matthews wasn’t about to lose any sleep.

“It’s a business. I wish I could say I stayed there for the rest of my time in the league, but that’s not what happened,” Matthews said in a phone interview with the Free Press on Thursday from Montreal, where he now plays for the Alouettes. “It’s very rare for you to see somebody stay on one team until they’re ready to move on. Those are for very special people and I guess I just wasn’t one of those special people.”

Matthews added he has no hard feelings towards anyone in the Bombers organization, nor does he have any regrets for his time in Winnipeg. He didn’t expect to be cut, but wasn’t surprised by it, either. To hear Matthews tell it, his struggles with the Bombers began almost immediately after he arrived.

“The day I got hurt in training camp was the day I started to see things that looked different,” he said. “Then, there was a combination of bad starts for me, then my finger gets dislocated, and then getting stabbed. It just felt like there was a domino effect.”

Unlike his first stint in Winnipeg in 2012-13, Matthews was no longer an unknown player eager to show off for his new coaches. He was an established player in the league, which meant more was expected of him, both from himself and the Bombers.

After all, Matthews had played in the NFL, including stints with the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens, and, after returning last year to the CFL for the final six games of the regular season, helped the Calgary Stampeders on their run to a Grey Cup title.

“Teams are not just going to sit there and wait on anybody. But that’s a given. I don’t care who you are — whether you’re Randy Moss or Jerry Rice — they’re not going to wait on you,” he said. “You have to prove yourself to get back on the field.”

His first injury, a lower-body issue suffered on the second day of workouts, kept Matthews out for the entirety of training camp and forced him to miss the first game. In just his second game, he dislocated a finger before halftime and was forced to leave the game.

Speaking with some of Matthews’ teammates at the time, his injury didn’t include merely a dislocated pinkie finger. He had also torn the skin so badly you could see the bone. The cut required a number of stitches and the prognosis seemed grim, with Matthews expected to miss at least a few weeks.

Sensing his role on offence already diminishing, Matthews knew he couldn’t afford to be out long. Through hard work in the gym, and a seemingly improbable ability to heal quickly, he declared himself ready to play after missing just one game.

But the Bombers were on a five-game win streak and it didn’t make sense to shuffle the lineup. The play of Lucky Whitehead and Kenny Lawler, both much younger than the 29-year-old Matthews, made the Bombers re-evaluate their receivers group.

Matthews was on the outside looking in.

“Guys were just doing what they’re supposed to do,” Matthews said. “So, you can’t just take productivity like that off the field. I got my chance to get back in the lineup because there were injuries… that was my in.”

After being a healthy scratch for two games, an injury to Darvin Adams gave Matthews another shot. What transpired was hardly impressive. In four games after returning to the lineup in Week 8, Matthews had just nine catches for 154 yards. When Adams returned, Matthews was issued his release, ending his time with 12 receptions for 180 yards and one touchdown.

Then there was the incident at a downtown Winnipeg bar, where Matthews became involved in a dispute with other patrons. Things got physical and Matthews was stabbed. The police and the owner of the bar downplayed the situation, and though Matthews was taken to the hospital, he was released shortly after.

Drawing negative attention, Matthews said, certainly didn’t help boost his standing within the team.

“For sure. Whether they want to admit it or not, it does (factor into my release),” he said. “When you have somebody who is compounding problems on top of problems and you see your group going a different way, that’s kind of hard to look away from and not have in the back of your head. Whether it was my fault or not — which it wasn’t — it still was a problem and they had to deal with it as such. It is what it is with that.”

It became obvious that Matthews was getting frustrated with his usage. He was targeted just 23 times, and the Bombers were reluctant to throw the ball deep. Matthews was upset in interviews with reporters.

“That’s a fact. I wear my heart on my sleeve, so I’m pretty sure everybody in the locker room, in the front office and maybe even in the stands, has seen how frustrated I was. But it had nothing to do with anybody but me,” he said. “I carry myself a different way. I carry myself as a No. 1 receiver no matter where I go, and when I don’t perform that way or I don’t feel like I’m in that zone, I’m going to feel a certain type of way.”

Matthews said he never had issues with his teammates. That was confirmed shortly after his release when many players talked about their displeasure with losing a close friend. Two days later, he signed with the Alouettes.

“It was hard to leave that locker room, because those guys were great to me from the day I walked in until the day I walked out,” Matthews said. “We’re still tight. I can’t wait for these guys to come out here and ball out. I don’t want to see them play that good against us, but I still want to see them guys be successful because those are all really good friends to me.”

He added: “I hold them to a high regard, and as far as the coaches go, it is what it is. Those guys, they had to make a business decision and it’s something you have to live with.”

Matthews has played one game for the Alouettes, reeling in a 42-yard catch in a 27-25 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week. Now that he’s more comfortable with the playbook, he expects to have a breakout game against his former club.

But before he does that, he wanted to express his gratitude to Bombers fans.

“Winnipeg fans have been nothing but amazing. They’ve followed me all the way through my career,” he said. “I’ll miss seeing those guys in Blue and Gold cheering, and they’re just going to be special to me. Whether they boo me or not, I’m going to be forever grateful for the way they helped me out so much.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton