A ball carrier who describes his racing style as “downhill, fast and physical” has no choice in the NFL but to play with a certain mentality.
Alexander Mattison, the last addition of a free agent to the Miami Dolphins back racing group, understands it. But it is far from what defines it.
“I am certainly not an aggressive person,” Mattison said in his first chance of talking to Dolphins journalists after his signing. “(I am not a person who comes out of bed with this state of mind.”
In fact, Mattison at the base seems to be a question of humanity, largely based on his own experiences.
A graduate of wooden wood as the former dolphins file Jay Ajayi, Mattison shared that he had crossed mental health difficulties at university. With hindsight, he finds himself lucky that only he was able to fight against what he was going through and since then, sought to provide post -post messages, whether in his personal interaction or through his foundation, I am giftedWho aims to be declared to “offer opportunities for hunting young people to young people and highlighting the importance of mental health … spreading love and positivity to all.”
“I think everyone was born with a gift,” Mattison said on the Dolphins Drive Time Podcast on March 19. “You just have to find it, kiss it and use it to spread your light. You can help be that dark time of someone, and I know that I was in a dark period, and everything I needed was a little light for me as well.”
So the dolphins should expect a guy who spreads kindness when he runs the ball, right? Fake.
Mattison, a choice of third round of the Vikings of Minnesota in 2019, represents 5-11 220 pounds of power and physics on the football field.
“(Mike McDaniel) told me to bring down my big boy pads at South Beach, so I understand,” Mattison said. “I’m going to bring a different level of physicity and that’s what I expect from me and what I have to bring to the table … Physics and I being a larger and murderous type of back is something that was mentioned when we talked.”
If he can do it in Miami, the similarities with his colleague Boise State and the Alum of Dolphins Ajayi will continue to be undeniable.
Let’s look at the obvious. They both had huge careers with broncos while wearing number 22. Ajayi when he entered the draft in 2015 was 5-11, 221 with 32-inch arms, run 4.57 in the 40 yards dashboard and displayed a vertical jump of 39 inches. In comparison, Mattison was 5-11, 221 with 31 inch arms, once 4.60 in the vertical 40 and 35 inches. With these type comparisons, the racing style is to some extent no coincidence.
When asked if he thought there were similarities between him and Ajayi – who posted 1,924 yards and nine affected in his three years in Miami – Mattison concluded.
“Yeah, I would say it. I somehow train with this (even) state of mind,” said Mattison.
However, there was an important difference between the two backs, and perhaps unconsciously, Mattison learned from some of what he saw in Ajayi both in Boisse State and in his professional career.
Mattison was drafted in the third round and Ajayi in the fifth, but this gap did not have much to do with their university career or their production. In fact, Ajayi had much better career, displaying ridiculous figures (678 races, 3,796 yards (5.6 avg.), And 55 tds in total). But Ajayi entered the league with damaged meniscus in his right knee which was well noted and predicts would lead to a shortened career before even being drafted, which he finally did.
Mattison, on the other hand, achieved the importance of his body and took care of it early.
During his last year of 2018, he ran for 1,415 yards in 302 races with 17 affected in 13 games. Appointed the offensive MVP of the Mountain West 2018 conference game match after having published a 200 yard match (another similarity) and a touchdown, he did not miss a single match in his university career despite minor off -season surgeries. And when he asked him questions about his decision to declare the NFL early, he clearly indicated his reason at the time.
“You can only play as long as your body allows it, and in this position, you cannot assume that it will last forever,” said Mattison.
He recently developed this importance when he asked the sustainability and availability of NFL players.
“I’m really proud to be available; it’s something I learned when I was in high school,” said Mattison. “My trainer, he gave me the expression that” the best capacity is availability “, and as a young child who tries to fulfill his dreams of obtaining a full scholarship and who will play in the NFL and everything, who definitively stuck me.”
In his new ball carrier, Miami has found his answers to his recent short-cours difficulties. There is no doubt, however, that they found a person with the right mental approach to life that uses this everyday mentality to help others in their own respective difficulties.
