Walmart can wait: Cardinals rookie Christian Matthew took an unconventional path to NFL

Considering how many times he moved around during his college career on a trek that took him from Georgie Southern to Samford University and ultimately to Valdosta State, rookie cornerback Christian Matthew wasn’t sure what to say when asked what it means to finally have found a place he can call home with the Cardinals.

“That’s a good question,” the seventh-round pick said last week upon reporting for the team’s rookie mini-camp. “I’ve been here for two days, so maybe after the third day it’ll feel like home.”

Even if it takes longer than that, it’s a better situation than the alternative path he was about to pick when he thought his dreams of making it to the NFL were dead and it was time to put football behind him and get a real job.

When he arrived at Valdosta State in 2020 as a graduate transfer, the entire season was scrapped because of COVID-19 and Matthew, who studied management and logistics, was prepared to enter the workforce. He even had a job offer to become a store manager at a local Walmart back home in Georgia.

At the time, he figured it was the right choice to make for a young 24-year-old.

“The goal was always to go to the NFL as soon as I got to college,” Matthew, now 25, said. “I figured I’d play for three or four years and then head out. Even moving around, I still held the faith, for sure, but it felt like it died when I got to Valdosta State.”

He said he was “very close” to accepting the Walmart offer and walking away from football until talking with friends and family, especially his girlfriend.

“She had a real candid conversation with me,” Matthew recalled, “just letting me know that if you really want to do it, she supported me, but at the same time, my opportunity to live out my dreams and play football at a higher level, that window is much smaller than the window of being a manager at Walmart.”

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Matthew reconsidered and instead, returned for his final year of eligibility at Valdosta, where he helped the Blazers reach the Division II Championship game. The 6-foot-2, 191-pound corner played in all 14 games and finished with 37 tackles, 15 pass breakups, one interception and a blocked kick.

The decision paid off when the Cardinals selected him with the first of their three picks in the seventh round of last month’s NFL draft. In many ways, Matthew’s unconventional route to the NFL could end up serving him well, according to Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

“Yeah, from what I’ve seen, those guys that face the most adversity when they get to this level as opposed to guys where it’s been smooth sailing – great high school career, great college career and then they face it – those guys tend to be well prepared for the rigors that they face up here,” Kingsbury said. “I think that could be a real advantage for him if he approaches his opportunity the right way.”

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Matthew believes his age, size and length give him an advantage as a rookie trying to win a spot on the Cardinals’ 53-man roster. It won’t be easy, but there aren’t tons of cornerbacks who are 6-2 or taller in the NFL, even though the league seems to be trending in that direction lately.

“I do believe the league is transitioning toward that,” he said. “At the end of the day, though, the best player plays whether you’re 5-9 or 6-2, 6-3, but yeah, I do think they’re transitioning toward that.

“I think it will help me. In this league, when you’re guarding guys like DeAndre Hopkins and some of those bigger guys they like to throw the ball up to, I think I have an advantage in one-on-one situations with my height and my length. It definitely helps me make plays on the ball and those kind of contested throws, for sure.”

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General Manager Steve Keim said Matthew has “really good movement skills for a guy his length” and called him a “good press corner” who is physical and “fits our scheme,” adding, “We had him in for a 30 visit and really thought he was a mature young man.”

Matthew might be mature, but he’s not exactly old.

“Yeah, I’m 25,” he said, laughing. “I just think about it like in no other field, starting off at 25 is not old. Of course in the NFL, that gets poked a little bit, but it doesn’t bother me, though. It is what it is.”

There’s no way to tell how things will pan out for Matthew, but Keim made it a point upon drafting Matthews to mention that not all of the NFL’s greatest players come from the biggest football programs.

“When we find these guys,” he said, “our scouts do a fantastic job of uncovering every stone and finding guys all over the country and the greatest part of it all is with the Hall of Fame, it’s not Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame. It’s Valdosta State, Tennessee State. There’s a lot of guys that go into that Hall.”

On that note, Matthew has chosen to wear No.35, the same jersey former Cardinals cornerback and Hall of Fame inductee Aeneas Williams wore in Arizona. Maybe he will follow Williams’ path to greatness. Maybe, after bouncing around from college to college, he’ll end up getting bounced out of the league.

One thing he will be able to cherish for eternity, however, is the phone call he got from Keim on Day 3 of the draft.

“It’s a forever thing,” Matthew said. “No matter what happens moving forward, I can always tell my kids and kids in the neighborhood that I got drafted. That phone call really changed my life and it really was a dream come true.”

He added to that memory when he first reported to the Cardinals’ Tempe training facility last week. Before he entered, Matthew stood outside for several minutes just to gaze at the signage and the bird head logo on the building.

“I had to take a moment,” he said, smiling. “That was surreal.”

Have an opinion on the Arizona Cardinals? Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac. Listen to him live on Fox Sports 910-AM every Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 on Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: A look inside Cardinals rookie Christian Matthew's unusual path to NFL