Brothers In Arms

Playing Football They Say, Is In Your Blood, Playing Linebacker It Would Seem, May Just Be In Your DNA. That’s The Conclusion You Could Draw If You Encountered The Matthews Brothers. The Place You’d Most Likely Meet Them Would Be On The Gridiron, At The Heart Of The Nottingham Caesars Defence.

Older brother Ashley is your classic run stuffing middle linebacker. Aged 26 he’s been playing since he started his studies at Nottingham Trent University, that’ll be eight years of reading and re-acting, stacking, shedding and tackling! At university he was initially deployed as a defensive end, but his desire to be at the heart of the defence, led to him switching to middle backer, and he’s been playing there ever since. He currently operates as the defensive captain for the Caesars, taking instruction from co-ordinator Grant Dean Lawless and organizing the troops. His run thumping style has garnered himself the nickname of “Bash”, very apt, given his propensity to deliver the big hits.

Younger brother Kieran has just graduated from Trent after four years of playing outside linebacker. His speed off the edge, and his ability to pursue ball carriers have led to him being a team captain, and also to him having a mantelpiece full of MVP and other awards. Having seen his brother’s team in action and watched some NFL games, when he first ventured down to a practice session, he had playing tight end in mind. However, having assessed his skill sets, the coaches decided that the best place to utilise his talents would be at linebacker, the die was cast, and he followed in his brother’s footsteps.

You may already be aware that Kieran and Ashley are not the only “Matthews brothers” to excel at the linebacker position. Over in the NFL the surname Matthews, and the position of linebacker, are etched large in Football lore. Clay Matthews III is a stand-out for the Green Bay Packers, and his brother Casey played the position for the Philadelphia Eagles. It clearly was in the DNA for them, as their dad, Clay Matthews Junior was a backer with the Browns and the Falcons!

As you might expect , they have a sibling rivalry going on when they play, and it gets pretty competitive between them as they look to make the big plays. They also seem to have something of a telepathy and often end up meeting at the ball carrier. The current Caesars linebacking group is one of the strongest that they have had, and has contributed in no small way to getting the team to an impressive 7 and 0 record. Ashley is under no illusion though that they have some tough games to come. “We have to play Leicester Falcons twice in the next few weeks, and that will be our biggest challenge so far. They will be the favourites to win, but we need to maintain our focus and momentum”.

Leicester are being tipped to win the division and gain promotion, but they would be foolish to underestimate Nottingham. “We have playmakers in our defence that can win games for us” said Matthews with confidence”.

Although both have the skills to play at a higher level they are determined to focus their efforts on getting the Caesars to be the best that they can be, and their brotherly bond may well be the key to delivering that success.