TEMPLE PLAYERS SEEING ACTION IN THE NFL WEEK 3
Rock Hoffman
When the Eagles rolled the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field in week three of the NFL season, the game saw the return of Tyler Matakevich to his college home field.
The rookie linebacker from Temple saw his first action on defense for the Steelers in the 34-3 beat down previously he had only played on special teams. He recorded his first career tackle (something he did 493 times for the Owls) in the Steelers win over the Cincinnati Bengals the week before their debacle at the Linc.
“I talked to him on the phone before the game,” Temple head coach Matt Rhule said. “I was happy to see him get out there and play. I was really happy for Tyler and proud of him and excited to have him come back to Philly.”
Matakevich isn’t the only Owl from the 2015 team that is in the league; he’s one of four. Tavon Young is with the Baltimore Ravens, Robby Anderson plays for the New York Jets and Matt Ioannidis was activated from the Washington Redskins practice squad prior to their game with the New York Giants.
“For me, it’s always gratifying any time I see one of the guys that played for me successful in anything,” Rhule said, “whether it’s their personal lives, business lives or football but it’s pretty cool to turn on the TV and see [them].”
Of the four, Young – who is listed on the second team at right cornerback for the Ravens – has played the most. He was a fourth-round pick in the draft and has participated in about a quarter of the defensive snaps while also being in on most of the special team plays. In a week 3 win over Jacksonville, he had his first career interception and it came at a key moment. Leading by one with less than four minutes to go in the game, the Jaguars were in Ravens territory with a chance to perhaps put the game away but Young picked off a pass by Blake Bortles that was tipped by Ravens defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan. The Ravens would win the game 19-17 when Justin Tucker kicked a 54-yard field goal with just over a minute to go in the game.
“Tracking that ball that got tipped,” said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. “He had to cover some ground to get there. It was good to see. Ball skills for a corner or for any defensive player are really valuable. We want all of our guys to be able to catch, because it really helps when they throw them to you to catch them. It’s big. For Tavon to have that ability, which we knew. We saw that ability, and we’ve seen it in practice. That’s a real plus for our defense.”
Ioannidis got in on special teams against the Giants as he made his NFL debut about an hour from where he went to high school in Flemington, NJ. Of course he was excited.
“It’s a moment I’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” said the defensive lineman prior to the game.
“This is a fast league,” said Ioannidis, a fifth-round pick, when asked what he observed prior to playing. “Every game is a grind, you have to grind every day and give 100 percent on every play.”
Anderson, a wide receiver who was undrafted, has seen his number of plays increase each week and in a week 3, he made his first career catch. It covered 26 yards and helped set up the only score the Jets would get in the 24-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Some other players from the Philadelphia area who are keeping their NFL dreams alive are Cleveland Browns tight end Seth DeValve, a fourth-round draft pick out of Princeton. Al-Hajj Shabazz, who played at West Chester and tried to catch on with some teams last year, is on the Steelers practice squad. Penn’s Ryan O’Malley, a tight end, is on the practice squad of the Oakland Raiders. Linebacker Don Cherry, from Villanova, is a member of the practice squad of the Eagles.
During the preseason, Cherry echoed Ioannidis’ sentiments about the speed of the game but said that wasn’t the only big adjustment.
“I’ve been getting into the playbook and learning the little things,” said Cherry. “The concepts aren’t the hard part, the little things like where you have to be if this happens or playing with this leverage. That’s been this biggest thing so far. That and just getting adjusted to the speed.”
Email Rock Hoffman at rock@footballstories.com