The Arizona Cardinals used their seventh-round draft pick on Christian Matthew out of Valdosta State and the rookie is hoping to make a splash to stick on the 53-man roster.
He started at VSU at the same time as the rise of COVID-19 and said the doubt of ever making it into the NFL started to creep in, especially with restrictions and cancellations hitting the program hard.
The 25-year-old cornerback said it forced him to really consider his life off the field.
“I actually had a job offer as a store director at a Walmart,” Matthew told reporters Friday.
“I was thinking of doing that. It was my first step to having management experience and getting my career off the field started. Hopefully, that would’ve led to something bigger down the line with a corporation. I was real close, but my friends and family kept me with a level head.”
The rookie said that his friends and family reminded him that the job will always be there down the road, but the opportunity to play in the NFL doesn’t come around twice.
“My girlfriend had a real candid conversation with me,” Matthew said. “She let me know, if I really want to do it, she supports me.
“But at the same time, my opportunity to live out my dreams and play football at a higher level, that window is way smaller than the window of being a manager at Walmart.”
Matthew played at Samford, Georgia Southern and Valdosta State before landing with the Cardinals.
He joins a cornerbacks room that includes Byron Murphy Jr., Marco Wilson, Jeff Gladney, Antonio Hamilton, Breon Borders, Jace Whittaker and Nate Brooks.