GLENDALE, Ariz. — You do not make your first career NFL catch in the Super Bowl.

You do not score your first career touchdown in the Super Bowl.

You do not go from selling sneakers at Foot Locker to starring on the biggest football stage in the world.

None of this computes or makes any sense, but what Chris Matthews put on display Sunday night did not make much sense, but it did happen, even though he did not anticipate it happening.

“No, I didn’t at all,’’ Matthews said.

Matthews, a 25-year old first-year player from Kentucky, gained plenty of attention in the NFC Championship Game for his leaping recovery of a desperation onside kick late in the fourth quarter. That’s his role, a special-teams guy who doesn’t play much on offense, mainly because he basically just got here.

Yet this Chris Matthews played some serious Hardball, especially in the first half of Super Bowl XLIX. Without him, the Seahawks might have been shut out in the first 30 minutes. Because of him, they managed to overcome some serious early domination by the Patriots to escape at halftime tied 14-14 in University of Phoenix Stadium.

Matthews ended up with four catches for 109 yards, but the Patriots clamped down on him down the stretch and they came back from a 24-14 deficit for a thrilling 28-24 victory.

The Seahawks were trailing 7-0 and absolutely abysmal on offense — Russell Wilson had completed one pass, and it was late in the second quarter — when Matthews picked a startling time to come up with his first NFL reception.

He ran one-one one with Pats cornerback Kyle Arrington, leaped, reached back and hauled in Wilson’s lob for a 44-yard gain to the New England 11-yard line. That finally enlivened the Seahawks’ offense, leading to Marshawn Lynch’s 3-yard touchdown run.

Matthews struck again, as Pete Carroll rolled the dice with the Seahawks on the Patriots 12-yard line with six seconds left in the first half.

Taking a risk by running a play rather than take the chip-shot field goal, Carroll’s moxie was rewarded when Wilson drilled a pass to Matthews, who simply outmuscled cornerback Logan Ryan to the ball in the end zone with two seconds left.

In the third quarter, Matthews again abused Arrington, this time spinning on the left sideline for another 44-yard catch, leading to a Steven Hauschka field goal to give the Seahawks their first lead, 17-14.

“It was great for me,’’ Matthews said. “This is huge for me right now, just being able to finish the game and do what I did. I didn’t have a perfect game. Who knows? Maybe if I hadn’t messed up on a couple routes and been in the right place at the right time we probably would have had a whole different outcome.’’

All right already, just who the heck is this guy?

Matthews spent time in the Arena Football League with the Iowa Barnstormers. He spent a couple of years in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

He’s a big target (6-foot-5, 218) but not exceptionally fast. He was working at Foot Locker and had a second job as a security guard when he got the call from his agent that the Seahawks were interested and wanted to see him that night.

He told the Seahawks “I don’t get off work until nine, I don’t know if I’ll make it.’’ Matthews got a call from his agent telling him to get to Seattle immediately, and thankfully, Matthews listened.

He spent time on and off the practice squad, appeared in three games, but did not have a catch. But did he ever show up in the Super Bowl.