What he did: A college football teammate at Georgia of Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart, Matt Stinchcomb spent four seasons in the trenches in Athens, playing for two head coaches, watching his team deal with multiple injuries to key players and never getting a chance to play for an SEC title or in a major bowl.
But Stinchcomb ended up becoming a two-time All-American offensive lineman and not only played in a Super Bowl, but watched his brother win an NFL title.
It was a career filled with good days and many tough ones.
Growing up in DeKalb County, Stinchcomb was supposed to go to Tucker High, but his mother was a teacher and moved to teach in Gwinnett County, working in the Parkview High cluster. Stinchcomb arrived at Parkview in 1991 to a program that had been average at best since the school opened in 1976 and as a freshman the Panthers finished 2-8 under new coach Larry Mize.
But in his sophomore season, Parkview went 8-3 and tasted the playoffs for the second time in school history before Cecil Flowe took over as head coach and added a 8-2 finish when Stinchcomb was a junior. Then as a senior, Stinchcomb became one of the top linemen in the state and the Panthers won a playoff game, beating Norcross in the region playoff before losing to Marietta 20-17 to finish 8-4.
While Stinchcomb could have played at most major colleges in the South, he always wanted to go to Georgia and signed with the Bulldogs and coach Ray Goff.
In ’95 in what would be Goff’s last season, as a freshman Stinchcomb saw action early in a season that was marked by injuries to tailback Robert Edwards and quarterback Mike Bobo. Receiver Hines Ward was forced to play quarterback that season and the Bulldogs finished 6-6, losing to Virginia 34-27 in the Peach Bowl.
Georgia then thought it had hired Glen Mason from Kansas to coach the Bulldogs. Mason even spoke to the team, but pulled out after a week and Jim Donnan was brought in from Marshall.
Under Donnan, Stinchcomb became one of the best offensive tackles in the country, earning All-American honors his junior and senior seasons as the Bulldogs finished 9-2 and 10-3, respectively. Stinchcomb got to play with his brother Jon that final season, but he hurt his shoulder against Auburn that season. However, he came back and wore a shoulder harness in a game against Georgia Tech and later at the Peach Bowl.
He didn’t play in the Senior Bowl because of the injury, but still was one of the highest rated linemen going into the 1999 NFL Draft. Interestingly, the one team he didn’t want to play for drafted him as he went in the first round — Oakland with the 18th pick. There he played for coach Jon Gruden.
In Oakland, he didn’t play a snap as a rookie because of his shoulder injury and ended up having to have surgery. His second season, he started nine games before re-injuring his shoulder as well as tearing the MCL in his knee. Finally, in 2001, Stinchcomb was able to stay on the field and during the 2002 season he played in the Super Bowl, a 48-21 loss to the Tampa Bay.
He then followed Gruden to Tampa Bay as a free agent in 2004 and that season had his best season in the NFL, starting all 16 games. But the next season he hurt his back and decided to retire. Stinchcomb continued to follow his brother during his NFL career and saw him win a Super Bowl, playing for New Orleans when the Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.
In what is the highest honor for an athlete in Athens, Stinchcomb has been named to the University of Georgia’s Circle of Honor as well as being included in the 2009 class of SEC Legends, presented before the championship game.
Where he lives: Stinchcomb, now 38, lives in Gwinnett County with Jenny, his wife of 15 years, and daughters Janie and Addie and son Whitt.
What he does now: Stinchcomb can be seen on the SEC Network working as a football analyst and along with former Bulldogs quarterback David Greene he operates the Atlanta offices of insurance brokerage firm Seacrest Partners.
On choosing to go to Georgia: "I can't say I considered a lot of the other schools. In fact, the only trip I went on that didn't include Georgia playing in the game was the Iron Bowl in Alabama. Truth is, I went on all those trips because I got to eat some good barbecue.''
On the transition from Goff to Donnan: "It was as clunky as it could have been. Glen Mason came in and talked to the team and there was not a love connection. A lot of the kids there were from Georgia and had loyalty to Ray. I think Glen saw that too, as there was just some bitterness. Then we get Jim, and we didn't really know anything about him. We knew he won a bunch of games at Marshall, but that was it.''
On playing for Gruden: "It was highly entertaining and never a dull moment. A lot of what we see on "Monday Night Football" is what we saw in team meetings. He is so engaging as a communicator and has the innate ability about things you knew were not true about yourself, but he had enough charisma to convince you that he was right. He convinced Tim Brown, Mr. Raider, to uproot his family and go across the country to Tampa.''
On whether Georgia has underachieved in football: "Georgia has certainly had the players. I know a favorite quote of Steve Spurrier is people always talk about the players at Georgia, but what happens to them. He is right as it is hard to argue that Georgia hasn't had some of the finest prospects because the NFL is littered with Georgia players. I know when I was there we had a glut of injuries, but we couldn't beat Florida and Peyton was at Tennessee. It was tough. I didn't know if it is any one thing you can point to at Georgia. The opportunities have been there and Mark Richt won two (conference) championships. But sometimes the message needs to be delivered differently.''
On Kirby Smart: "I think there is something about coach's kids and the qualities they bring. Also, Kirby is a very smart guy. He was in the Terry Business College at Georgia and given where he comes from at Alabama, I think he can take this program where it wants to go. It's all about the marshalling of resources, and Kirby comes from a place that had a wealth of riches. Some of those resources have not been available at Georgia, but they are now such as the commitment to facilities. All these things point in the right direction, and I really like what he has done so far with his staff and such and they haven't even played a game.''
On whether he will see the movie "Concussion'': "I think I will. I had one in college and one in the pros that was diagnosed, but that was a time when you got your bell rung and you got your wits about yourself and went back in the game. I didn't understand back then how far reaching concussions were. I will say from a medical advancement and emphasis on treatment, I don't know if there has been a safer time to play football.''
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Credit: AP
