This weekly player bio is featured by none other than Pro Bowl Cornerback Rashean Mathis. Rashean Jamil Mathis or Rash (can I call him that?) attended Englewood High school in Jacksonville, the same school that also featured Wife Beater (err) Starting Pitcher Brett Myers. In high school he was second team All-State, All-Conference and All-World. He was also recruited to play centerfield for numerous Community Colleges, obviously the highlight of his athletic career.
He passed on the chance to pursue a career in America’s Pastime, and instead followed the pigskin to Bethune-Cookman University. While I have no idea where this is, the reason he didn’t go to powerhouse schools like Syracuse was because he broke his leg during his senior season and they overlooked him.
While at BCU he still holds the BCS record for most interceptions in a single season (14), and he won some award for being the best defensive player in D1 AA.
He was drafted by the Jaguars in the second round (39th overall) in the 2003 draft.
In his rookie season he played safety and cornerback and recorded 81 tackles. He converted to cornerback full-time in 2004. Mathis had 2 interceptions in his rookie year and another 10 interceptions combined in the two years following. He had his best year in 2006, collecting 8 interceptions (tied for third in the league) and being voted to the Pro Bowl, Nails!
Mathis had his most significant game as a professional on January 5, 2008 in an AFC Wild Card playoff game against Pittsburgh. He had 2 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. Double Nails!
On December 1, 2008, Mathis sustained a knee injury against the Houston Texans and was put on the injured reserve list ending his season.
On November 16, 2009, Mathis injured his groin while breaking up a pass in a win over the New York Jets. He would only play in one other game during the 2009 season, missing the rest because of the lingering injury
Rash owns franchise records with 25 career INTs, three INT returns for touchdowns, 441 INT return yards and 28 takeaways …
He lives in Jacksonville, loves golf and community events. Rash Served as spokesperson for the RealSense Prosperity campaign from 2007-08, a program that encourages people to take advantage of free tax preparation offered by volunteers. He participated in the 2008 Jacksonville Association of Firefighters charity softball tournament at Jacksonville University. Mathis partnered with Home Depot and KaBoom! on a project to refurbish and build a new playground at a local YMCA (Rash seems like an upstanding citizen). He serves on the Jacksonville Parks, Recreation, Entertainment and Conservation Advisory Board, and the coolest thing ever was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. Big Money Mathis.
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