The home field advantages of playing a Super Bowl in this endless Texas town are not to be easily dismissed.
Falcons backup quarterback Matt Schaub played seven seasons for the Texans and he has the moral compass to prove it. One piece of advice he can offer his younger teammates is most valuable, given the team’s slim Super Bowl history (see Eugene Robinson). “I can kind of tell them where to go and where not to go,” Schaub said.
The longest-tenured Falcon, defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux, can use this weekend as an all-expense-paid family reunion. Having grown up 90 miles to the east in Port Arthur, he has two brothers living in Houston. And his mother is still in Port Arthur. “We’re all scattered out now. For the weekend, everybody will be here,” he said.
But nobody has it as good as Jake Matthews, the young left tackle who practically can consider NRG Stadium his own very large man cave.
He grew up just about 20 minutes from the place. His Hall of Fame lineman father Bruce Matthews settled there when playing for the old Oilers/Tennessee Titans back in the 1980s and ‘90s. And, unlike his team, he actually stayed put.
You know what the best part of coming home again for the Super Bowl? You never have ask for the concierge.
“Driving around in the bus, going from place to place and I recognize everything,” Jake said. “It is where I grew up. It’s fun, especially knowing that my family is right down the road.
“It hasn’t been as much stress on me. Everyone’s trying to figure out hotel rooms for family and my family is right down the road. It’s been fun. I’m excited to play in front of them.”
So while he is protecting Matt Ryan’s valuable blindside, Matthews has forfeited the excuse of pregame reservation anxiety.
Dad made it to one Super Bowl, the 2000 game in Atlanta in which his Titans finished just a yard short of a chance to beat the St. Louis Rams. It took him a professional lifetime — 17 years in the league — to break through and here is his snot-nosed kid doing it after just three. That generation is in such a hurry.
Jake was not quite 8 years old at the time and he doesn’t remember having a real hootenanny in Atlanta.
“Honestly, I was kind of bored,” Jake said. “I was so young, I remember the older siblings getting to go to the events and hang out. And me and my younger brother Mike were stuck in the hotel room the whole time, bored out of our minds.”
He will have a more memorable experience this time.
Although it is difficult to fathom which family member more cherishes this opportunity — the one playing in the game or the one who was there in another lifetime now watching his son realize a football dream.
“A Super Bowl is always something that seems to happen to somebody else. And to think our little boy is going to the Super Bowl is something we get really excited about,” Bruce said. His little boy stands 6-feet-5 and weighs 309 pounds.
Jake played with a bum ankle his rookie season and the results showed it as he failed to perform up to first-round credentials. Everyone seems to be a fan now. The entire offensive line has remained intact this year and it is scarcely coincidence that quarterback Matt Ryan has had his best season. On Jan. 22, the reward for committing one’s family to football was paid in full. Jake’s family was on the floor of the Georgia Dome — the same place where his father lost in 2000 — as the confetti rained down after the NFC Championship game. Father and son were interviewed in tandem afterward.
“He was a little envious,” Jake said of his quick Super Bowl ascent. “He never won one. Now’s my chance.”
When he played in the Super Bowl, about all Bruce could remember was being hot and exhausted after the last potential game-tying drive fell short.
Watching his kid play is an even more wrenching experience.
“Whether it’s little league or the NFL, it has always been stressful,” Bruce said. “You want your kid to do well. In a lot of cases, you’re holding your breath even though he’s done everything he could to prepare for the moment. Typically after a game, I need a rest.”
And, by the way, there is one neighborhood in Sugarland that is every bit as Falcon-centric as Smyrna.
“It’s like you can’t believe that someone you know and someone you’ve grown up with, especially a lot of kids he’s been in school with, is here. Everyone our family has come in contact with kind of takes ownership in it,” Bruce said.
Having witnessed his father’s long-delayed close brush with a championship, Jake has a very pointed perspective about this game.
“As I sit here now and think of it,” he said earlier this week, “it’s pretty special that for all the games my dad played and all the coaches he went through, it took him 17 years to make it to this game. And I’ve been very fortunate to make it my third year. I got to take advantage of this opportunity because I have living proof that this doesn’t come easy. We got to take care of it on Sunday.”
High school football in Texas borders on legendary. They make hit TV shows about it and everything.
It’s fitting that Houston has produced a strong core of players in this game — for New England. Houston players include tight end Marcellus Bennett and cornerback Eric Rowe. The NFL doesn’t do Homecoming games, but this one is close.
“I remember running out for my first high school game (for Elkins High). The band is playing. You’re thinking it doesn’t get any better than this,” Jake said. “And then going to college and the NFL.
“It gets better.”
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