Published June 29th, 2022 in the Daily News Record.
View the article here
Article Transcript:
When former James Madison head coach Mickey Matthews was in the car recruiting for the Dukes with his son, Clayton, years ago, he got a phone call.
On the call, he talked about a scholarship the University of Alabama had that benefited the sons and daughters of former Crimson Tide football players to attend the school. Once Clayton Matthews heard that, he thought JMU should do something similar.
“He thought, ‘What a great thing, we need to do something like that when you finish coaching,’” Mickey Matthews recalled. “So when all this happened, I thought it would be a great thing.”
Clayton Matthews died from a hemorrhagic stroke caused by a sudden spike in blood pressure on June 19. He was 40 years old.
Now, the Matthews family is sponsoring a similar scholarship at JMU, called the “Michael Clayton Matthews Football Family Scholarship Fund” in honor of their son.
Clayton Matthews played under his father for two seasons as an all-purpose player; kicking, punting and playing some wide receiver. After a car accident paralyzed him, Clayton Matthews joined JMU’s staff as an assistant coach.
Mickey and Kay Matthews, Clayton’s mother, are the administrators on the scholarship and then Clayton’s sister, Meredith Wells, will become one afterwards.
“We’re going to do a lot of fundraising for that fund and try to get as many scholarships as we can,” Mickey Matthews said.
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