Matt, one of six children, was born in Hawaii. With his Dad in the Air Force, he grew up all over the world. Out of high school in Dayton, Ohio, Matt was a walk-on at NEO in Oklahoma and earned a half-year scholarship. From there, he finished out college at Iowa State University where he earned All Big Eight and All-American and Defensive MVP honors at the Sun Bowl.

Drafted out of Iowa State in the Second Round in 1974, Matt played his entire 12-year professional football career with the Vikings. Playing in six consecutive Pro Bowls and two Super Bowls, he managed to collect honors such as being named to the NFL All-Rookie Team, Miller "Man of the Year" for community service, and Most Valuable Linebacker in 1981 and All-Pro honors. Among other team and NFL records, Matt is second on the Vikings All Time List for tackles with 1,452; has a total of 20 1/2 blocked kicks, a Vikings record.

From day one, Matt has given back to the community, helping all kinds of charities while playing for the purple and gold. See a partial list below:

Access of the Red River Valley American Cancer Society Big Brothers/Big Sisters Boulder Options Catholic Charities HOMEBASE Children's Miracle Network Cities in Schools, Inc. D.A.R.E. Homeward Bound INROADS/Minneapolis-St.Paul, Inc. INROADS/Tampa Bay Area International Hearing Foundation

Lupus Foundation of Minnesota March of Dimes Minnesota Literacy Council Multiple Sclerosis Society Second Harvest Food Shelves Special Olympics Minnesota The Salvation Army The First Tee The United Way TSG University Volunteers of America of Minnesota

His many trips on NFL USO tours to visit our troops has taken him to many worldwide military locations including South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Diego Garcia, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Spain and most recently in 2004 and 2005 to Iraq and Afghanistan.