Tom Matte

 ( 1939 Births ) 

Matte would bloom late in his career. In 1968, he earned his first Pro Bowl honor after rushing for 662 yards on 183 carries for nine touchdowns. He also caught 25 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown. That season, the Colts advanced all the way to the NFL Championship Game. While he did have a quiet game against the Minnesota Vikings in the first playoff game (a 24–14 win where he ran for 31 yards), he came alive in the 1968 NFL Championship Game. Avenging his prior quiet games, he rushed for 88 yards on 17 carries for three touchdowns to galvanize the Colts to a 34–0 victory over the Cleveland Browns, avenging their loss in the title game four years prior. It won Matte a cover on the January 6, 1969 cover of Sports Illustrated, taken after he had scored his third touchdown of the afternoon in the NFL Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns. The Colts were the winners of the penultimate NFL title game and advanced to Super Bowl III. Matte would rush for 116 yards on 11 carries while catching two passes for thirty yards; he set the record for highest per-carry rushing average in a Super Bowl game with 10.5, with his biggest run being a run of 58 yards that was stopped by his former teammate Johnny Sample. However, Matte would fail to reach the end zone and a fumble to start the second half only made the Colts more frustrated on their way to a 16–7 loss. The following year was even better, as he rushed for a career high 909 yards on 235 carries with a league-high 11 touchdowns while adding 43 catches for 513 yards for two touchdowns. His total touches, yards from scrimmage (1,422) and touchdowns were all league highs.

Matte was injured in the first game of the 1970 season against the San Diego Chargers and therefore did not play when the Colts returned to Super Bowl V at the end of that season and beat the Dallas Cowboys. However, he was awarded a Super Bowl ring. Matte returned for one last fresh run with the 1971 season, playing in all 14 games and rushing for 607 yards on 173 carries for eight touchdowns while catching 29 passes for 239 yards. The Colts made a run at the AFC title game once again. Matte would have his last significant playtime with the game against Cleveland, rushing 16 times for 26 yards while catching three passes for 22 yards as the Colts won 20–3. In the AFC Championship versus the Miami Dolphins, he made just one catch for six yards as the Colts lost 21–0.

After spending most of the 1972 season on the practice squad, he was traded from the Colts to the Chargers for a 1973 eighth-round selection (189th overall–Ray Oldham) on January 24, 1973. Harvin, Al. "People in Sports: Loughery Is Seeking Saint of 76ers," The New York Times, Thursday, January 25, 1973. Retrieved November 29, 2020 1973 NFL Draft Pick Transactions, January 30 (rounds 1–7) & 31 (rounds 8-17) – Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved November 29, 2020

Following Unitas' lead, Matte and many of his Baltimore Colt teammates disowned the franchise after their move to Indianapolis in 1984.

• Kendall Hinton, the next non-quarterback to perform that position in the NFL in 2020.