By: Brian Helberg

Ryker Mathews was a football fan from birth. The American Fork, Utah product grew up surrounded by the game with a father who coached and brothers who played. The love his family has for football has always been what pushed Mathews to keep pursuing his dreams of playing professionally.

“My whole family is a football family,” said Mathews on his upbringing. “My family are massive football fans. They encouraged me to play and I love the sport.”

Mathews came into his own as a football player once he arrived at American Fork High School. The 6-foot-6, 320-pound blocker earned the opportunity to play in the U.S. Army All-American Game as a senior. This annual all-star game is designed to highlight the top prep players in the United States.

“It was fun, it was incredible really,” said Mathews on the chance to play in the prestigious all-star game. “I met some really interesting guys and got to play with all sorts of different characters. I roomed with another player from Utah and actually became pretty good friends with him. Those types of things are exciting when you get there. You just try to soak it all in and enjoy the experience. It was a fun time.”

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A highly sought after recruit, Mathews garnered plenty of attention during his final season of high school. Rivals.com ranked him as Utah’s top prospect in 2011 and offers rolled in from schools across the country. Notre Dame, UCLA and Oregon all showed interest, but staying close to his football-loving family in Utah was Mathews’ top priority.

“BYU was only 20 or 30 minutes away from my childhood home and high school. All my siblings were still living in the area and my parents were here, so I wanted to stay close. When I decided to stay close to family there were only a few schools that were on my list. I think I made a good decision and I enjoyed my time at BYU.”

Mathews most certainly did make a wise choice to play for the Cougars. At BYU, he played under Bronco Mendenhall, the second-winningest head coach in school history. The Cougars went to four consecutive bowl games with Mathews, culminating with an appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl as a senior in 2015.

“I loved playing for Coach Mendenhall,” said Mathews with a big smile. “I had a great relationship with him. It says a lot about a coach when still to this day, he will message me after a CFL game. The fact that he is still thinking about a player who graduated four years ago, it means a lot. He treated his players well and we knew he loved us. He was a fun guy to play under.”

Mathews played with some of the best offensive talent in the country during his time at BYU. This included having the chance to block for quarterback Taysom Hill. The two men developed a strong bond during their time together.

“Taysom’s an incredible athlete. I remember playing pick-up basketball when he got off his LDS Mission. He had been gone for two years not working out at all and five days after he got home, he was doing windmill dunks and draining three’s. I just looked at him and thought, this dude is going to do some incredible things, and he did. His college career was a bit overlooked because of injuries, but he definitely isn’t getting overlooked now with the Saints.”

On the surface, Mathews’ collegiate career sounds perfect, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. The four-year starter at left tackle battled through numerous injuries and consistently played in pain. This took a toll on him physically, but it was even harder for him to deal with mentally.

“I didn’t handle it very well, that’s for sure,” said Mathews on his mental state while dealing with injuries at BYU. “All through high school I never had injuries and never had to deal with any of that mentally. I don’t think people quite realize how much of an impact it makes to miss a season.”

“I met with my head coach often and I met with some counsellors just to make sure my mind was in the right place. It gets depressing because you feel like you’re not part of the team anymore. You don’t get to do anything with the team. You don’t practice, you don’t travel, you don’t go to meetings, so it gets really hard. If you don’t have people to help you through it like I did, I would say it’s close to impossible. I learned a lot and grew up a lot in those five years.”

Mathews had a successful senior season with the Cougars and signed as an undrafted free agent with the New Orleans Saints of the NFL in 2016. Following a brief stint in New Orleans, Mathews took his talents north of the border and signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2017. Adjusting to the CFL took time and Mathews experienced some growing pains during his initial days with Hamilton.

“It sucked. It was a very frustrating year of adjusting,” said Mathews with a laugh when asked to summarize his rookie season in the CFL. “You don’t realize how much of a difference that yard makes until you’re actually playing here. It’s difficult for American tackles to come up to the CFL and adjust to the different playing style. I really struggled that first year and I was honestly just lucky that June Jones gave me the chance to play. He believed in me and gave me the opportunity to start when he took over as head coach.”

It might not have happened as quickly as Mathews would have hoped, but he established himself as a quality tackle in 2018 and became an anchor on the offensive line in 2019. The Ti-Cats had one of their best seasons in franchise history in 2019.

Hamilton led the CFL in points scored and net offence last season, and none of that would’ve been possible without Mathews and his cohorts up-front. Named an East Division All-Star for his fine play in 2019, Mathews and the Tiger-Cats also made an appearance in the Grey Cup to cap off a memorable season.“It was a really good season, more so personally,” said the 27-year-old on his success in 2019. “If you are around good people and you enjoy coming to work every day, it makes a big difference. It was a fun time to play with my teammates on the Ti-Cats. We did everything together and had a good group of guys. Mentally, that bond takes you a long way. It makes it a lot easier to play well when you’re enjoying yourself.”

Hamilton had a roster full of all-stars in 2019 but many of their key cogs were playing on expiring contracts and slated to hit free agency at season’s end. This was the case with Mathews. The Tiger-Cats attempted to retain the services of Mathews, but he ultimately decided to test the free-agent waters.

Mathews was one of the top priorities for the Lions entering free agency in 2020. You could hear shouts of excitement throughout the club’s head offices in Surrey shortly after Mathews inked a contract with the Leos on February 11th.

“BC basically told me, if we have you, we think we are a championship team – and I agreed with them,” Mathews said on the sales job done by Ed Hervey. “It was very clear to me that the Lions wanted me really bad. It was tough to leave my buddies back in Hamilton, but my wife and I talked about it and ultimately decided that it would be best to move to BC.”

Lining up next to some of the best blockers in the game with the Lions aided in the pitch to Mathews. Joel Figueroa, Sukh Chungh and Hunter Steward have all developed reputations as quality linemen in this league.

“I’m very excited,” said Mathews when asked about the proposition of playing alongside guys like Figueroa, Chung and Steward. “I’m excited to get to know them and build that bond with them like I had with the o-line in Hamilton. I’ve watched their film for years, especially Fig, he’s a great player and has been for a long time. It’s a great offensive group and I think we will be able to put some points on the board.”

Mathews has had many remarkable experiences throughout his football life. The road hasn’t always been easy but through hard work and commitment, he has been able to establish himself as a top-tier talent in the CFL.