Clay Matthews Proves Leadership by Playing with Broken Leg

Clay Matthews stepped up last season when nobody else would, and it turns out he did that all playing more than half the season with a broken leg.

The momentum shifted with the crack of Charles Woodson's collarbone. With their defensive leader on the sideline, the Green Bay Packers needed somebody to step up before Super Bowl XLV completely slipped out of their grasp. 

Clinging to a four-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Packers defense needed to stop the driving Steelers. Packers linebacker coach, Kevin Greene, called Clay Matthews over during a timeout. 

"Everybody looks up to Wood as being a leader. He's gone," Greene said to Matthews. "Nobody is standing up and rallying the troops. It is time. It is time."

Matthews jogged back out and recognized the Steelers formation. He realized they were going to run right at him. Something they had taken advantage of the entire game. Matthews told his big man up front, Ryan Pickett, to spill the block and lead Steelers rusher Rashard Mendenhall right into Matthews. 

Matthews stopped the Steelers as his helmet crushed the ball out of Mendenhall's arms, forcing a fumble that the Packers recovered. The stop proved to be huge and helped the Packers secure their fourth Super Bowl trophy. 

Matthews' season last year was already impressive based on the assumption that he was primarily healthy and somewhat affected by the sore shin that had him placed on injury reports. 

Matthews revealed his injury to the Green Bay Press Gazette. "I had a stress fracture in my leg," Matthews said. "A sore shin as you guys call it, but that’s all right."

As the 2010 season progressed, Matthews was becoming more and more of a leader on the defense. He was noticeably more vocal on the sidelines. 

A hamstring injury slowed Matthews towards the beginning of the year, causing him to miss a Week 6 matchup with the Miami Dolphins. Matthews' absence was quite notable, as the Packers struggled to get pressure on the quarterback from Matthews' backups.

Even though he wasn't back to full strength, Matthews returned the next week to play a decent game against the rival Minnesota Vikings. 

Around the middle of the season, Matthews started appearing on the injury report with a shin injury that was never explained to be more than soreness of the shin. 

Matthews did not miss any time as a result of the stress fracture in his leg. It didn't matter how painful his injury was, as Matthews was not about to let his teammates down and miss time.

Playing through the pain of a stress fracture in his leg, Matthews showed his teammates how far he was willing to go to achieve the team's goals. He pushed forward and exemplified a never-die attitude throughout the end of the regular season and throughout the playoffs. 

A walk-on at USC, Matthews has never allowed himself to be satisfied in the football world. He is always ready to prove doubters and critics wrong. This attitude has poured over into the rest of the Packers defense.

In the upcoming season, Matthews looks to stay healthy and play the entire 16 games at full strength. If he can accomplish this goal, the sky is the limit for the third-year player.