Clay Matthews says he’ll never get over loss to the Giants

Reuters

Three months after losing to the Giants in the playoffs, Packers linebacker Clay Matthews says he’s not over that loss — and doesn’t think he ever will be.

Matthews said Friday on NBC Sports Talk that he didn’t watch the Giants win the Super Bowl and would rather think about beating the Giants this season than losing to them in the postseason.

“I didn’t catch the Super Bowl at all, simply because I was on a plane at that time,” Matthews said. “I don’t know if you ever really get over it. I still remember losses from my childhood that you never get over. Fortunately we get to play the Giants again this year and hopefully have a little redemption. But more power to them. They obviously came on at the end of the season. They were a six seed, had to go through everyone’s backyard and win and that’s exactly what they did — similar to what we did two years ago. So we’re just looking forward to getting back out there and hopefully show everyone what we’re capable of and that’s winning another Super Bowl.”

Matthews also touched on the Saints bounty scandal, saying he has never had a coach say the things that Gregg Williams was caught on tape saying to his players. Matthews added that he would have refused if a coach had ever encouraged him to take out an opponent.

“I don’t think we have any of those coaches in Green Bay — or throughout my career in football,” Matthews said. “If there is someone who does that, I’d like to think there’s players who are man enough to understand that, ‘I’m not going out there and trying to intentionally hurt someone on purpose to make a little extra money.’ It’s not what I believe in.”

Here’s the video of the Matthews interview:

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51 responses to “Clay Matthews says he’ll never get over loss to the Giants

  1. I love Clay Matthews,he is my boo…i’m in love with my Packers….I agree with everything he said…I gotta feeling Clay is gonna have a Huge year (barring injury) trusting that Ted Thompson and Co. will get him alot of help in the draft!:) #GoPackGo

  2. Like your stand on Bounty Gate.

    Don’t worry about getting over it…….It just shows what we already know…..your a great competitor……

    As an NFL Fan, I appreciate your game and wish you good luck except against the Hawks……

  3. don’t like the pack but respect clay… seems like a good guy and a hell of a player. not a fan of either ny team and will be rooting for a giants loss. I’m a skins fan ( I know I know) but clay is a man to be feared. wouldn’t want him circling a game against us on his schedule. HTTR!

  4. The Giants were the 4 seed because they won their division. But they did have the 6th best record in the conference.

  5. He made the stop that caused my Steelers to lose the Superbowl. I’ll never forget that(textbook perfect) hit that sent the ball flying out of Rashard Mendenhall’s hands. I’ll never forget it, and it hurts b/c the Steelers were deep in GB territory and had a huge opportunity to take the lead and possibly win a third SB in 7 years.

    I knew as soon as i saw it that it was just a perfect hit, at the perfect time and caused a player to fumble- a player who, until that perfect hit by Matthews, had only ONE fumble in the entire season (including playoffs) until The Bloodline knocked that ball out.

    So- yeah: I can commiserate. I know exactly how he feels. And it never goes away; just buried under events of the future.

    As a life-long Steelers fan(and though it burns me to say this);

    I feel ya, bro. I feel ya.

  6. mwood1718 says:
    Apr 20, 2012 9:20 PM
    #4 seed Clay, not #6. Learn how the playoff system works.

    Don’t treat Clay like he’s stupid or something…he’s not.he just made a mistake gosh!

  7. Even though I’m a Bears fan, I’ve got to respect Clay for his competitive fire. He doesn’t need extra peanuts to add incentive.

  8. When Eli threw the Hail Mary to end the half…Clay’s expression summed how the rest of the game was going to go

  9. Mathews could have stopped Bradshaw on the play before the hail Mary. Instead he let him run across the field, get out of bounds and stop the clock when the Giants had no timeouts. Hope that long haired dope NEVER forgets that. Cut your hair hippie!!!!

  10. He shouldn’t forget the off year he had this past season. What he have 6 sacks or something like that. Jared Allen had that in 2 games. Cut your hair short just like your game last year!!

  11. chawk12thman says: Don’t worry about getting over it…….It just shows what we already know…..you’re a great competitor……

    ——————————————————–

    ’nuff said

  12. They had everything going for them early but burnt out towards the end, while the GMEN were fighting with their backs against the wall. Pretty similar to the Pack the year before.

    When will they learn ? Those tops seeds tend to rest and misuse the week off. Your champ needs to face disparity. The team that comes in hot off some epic W’s seems to be a good bet for your money these days. Winning 12 games a year in a cupcake division hardly ever helped the Colts ! Slacking off/ Resting for a game or even 2 and than getting a Rnd. 1 bye??

    “Then BOOM! Your thrown into the ring with a Buzzsaw. IT’s like a nightmare.”

  13. mwood1718 says:Apr 20, 2012 9:20 PM

    #4 seed Clay, not #6. Learn how the playoff system works.

    —————-

    Way to tell him! I’m sure he cares!

  14. If that’s really how he feels, very good. A stand up guy.
    There aren’t nearly enough of those to go around, these days…

  15. Your Dad had ya beat little buddy. But therrs no doubt WHO your Dad is and Linebacker runs through your veins. Youre great and so was your Dad. I’n Cleveland he was like a one man defensehes still got fans out here!

  16. Some Saints fans keep trying to say every coach uses the same rhetoric Greg Williams used about taking out opponents and going for the head. But I believe Matthews. He had a fantastic game when the Packers beat my Steelers in the Super Bowl and I never saw him lay a dirty hit on anyone that night.

  17. One way to soften the sting? How about you get the boys to play hungry? The Packers D was absolutely disgusting last year. I was embarassed to watch the Packers when the Offense wasnt on the field. That defensive unit was the absolute worse I have ever seen in my 40 years of football watching.

  18. im getting annoyed by this “fad” of morons using some phrase and saying ” sincerely eagles fans” or “sincerely packers fans” or whatever “sincerely” blah , it is really f’ng annoying. can you girls come up with a different catch phrase please? in every single article, some idiot writes something like this. i cant be the only one seriously annoyed with this garbage

  19. I thought the photo showed a female sports reporter and then I heard it was Clay Matthews.

  20. Yeah, well, neither will we, and ours are way way worse, Clay.

    Enjoy… Gints fans.

  21. The problem with the Packers last year was not Matthews…who was constantly double-teamed, it was the failure of Ted Thompson to find a defensive end to replace Cullen Jenkins who left for Philly. The Packers were hoping Neal would come on, but he was hurt…again…(now suspended for PED) and the linebackers on that same side all went into a funk at the same time.
    The Packers also lost Nick Collins to injury. The defense…with the exception of Clay who was tough as hell last year…really stunk. Strange you would say that with a 15-1 record, but it did. They gave up huge chunks of turf.
    Ted Thompson will have some ‘splainin’ to do if he can’t restock the team this off-season with some players who can apply some pressure.

  22. Glad to see the ugliest woman in the history of the world knows his numbers. Oh, wait, Nevermind. They were a 4 seed, not a six, you jerk.

  23. Interesting that he didn’t bother to watch the Super Bowl. To many of these guys, it really is just a job, and if it isn’t them playing, they don’t even care about watching games etc….

  24. You bunch of crybabies. It’s a game. Get over it. Wussies. Here, if it helps you any, next time bet $1,000 on the other team in a big game. Then if you lose, you’ll be happy.

  25. Good! I hope he never gets over it, just like I hope the fans never get over it either. I, on the other hand, didn’t need to get over it because it is exactly what I wanted – to see the Pack clench up their b*tt cheeks at just the right moment last season. Priceless!

  26. That’s good………..here’s hoping it eats you up inside – you ‘poser’.

    Hopefully – Eli is now in your punk head.
    Get a haircut.

  27. I guarantee you that just like every other player in the Saints locker room Clay Matthews would have kept his mouth shut.

    That being said I believe that he probably would not have intentionally tried to hurt another player despite what was said by the defensive coordinator. Just like all the Saints players seem to have not intentionally tried to hurt opposing players.

    People seem to forget the fact that despite the words used by Greg Williams there is not one shred of evidence that Saints players were intentionally trying to hurt anyone.

    If there was demonstrable proof, like an above average number of personal fouls by the Saints defense or above average number injuries caused by the Saints defense the hysterical moral ‘majority’ calling for the heads of everyone involved would have provided that information to defend their position.

    Once again I ask: Where are the bodies?

  28. One way to soften the sting? How about you get the boys to play hungry? The Packers D was absolutely disgusting last year. I was embarassed to watch the Packers when the Offense wasnt on the field. That defensive unit was the absolute worse I have ever seen in my 40 years of football watching.
    ———————————————

    The defense that was tied for takeaways? The team that surrendered about the average points given up in the NFL(359 vs 355)? The defense that was 9th in QB rating surrendered? Over 40 years? Missed the 1986 Packers? The 1983 Packers did we?

    The 2011 Packers D was MEDIOCRE. At least they weren’t the Giants who gave up 400 points and was 21st in QB rating surrendered on defense last year. Oh wait… I guess you can still win a Super Bowl with a “disgusting” defense.

    Was it disappointing that the Packers’ D fell to average (particularly in points) after surrendering the 2nd fewest points over 2009 & 2010? Yes. But let’s not get carried away with hyperbole. I am confident that the Packers’ D can make the adjustments necessary to be fair to good in 2012, certainly enough coupled with the offense to continue to be Super Bowl caliber as they have been the last three years.

  29. Wow he did not watch the SB that was the second Giants game in a few weeks he had no interest in

    Do not worry Clay I watched the entire Giants playoff run enough for you and the rest of your team

  30. Love the haters, the Pack were the best team in football last season even without a defense. If we can get another pass rusher and Nick Collins back we’re gonna win it all again.

    sincerely,

    NFL owner

  31. I’d like to see any one of these name callers line up opposite Clay. Then we’d see who the girls really are. Good on you Clay for having character and being a competitor. With a little help from your D friends, you’ll be back in the SB this year. 🙂

  32. Clay/Rodgers/Bulaga/Driver were the only guys that showed up every single game last year… Driver was rallying us in the 2nd half against the giants, shame how last year ended… hope it makes the team really hungry to succeed this upcoming season.

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