The Judon File
- Three-time Pro Bowl, 2019, 2020, 2021
- Signed a four-year, $56M deal with the Patriots in 2021
- CFB Gene Upshaw Award recipient in 2015 for best Division II lineman, recorded 20 sacks and three forced fumbles in 15 games
Ten-to-One
Matthew Judon is not your average NFL success story. He is only one of ten children, raised by his mother and stepfather in Louisiana. Even just making it to the NFL after playing Division II football in college is impressive enough. Judon faced long odds trying to make it to the league and attending Grand Valley State certainly made that path more difficult, but he ended a two-year NFL Combine invite drought for the school.
Perhaps the craziest part of this story is that Judon only played football because his elder brother played the game. Matthew looked at the sport as something to do in his free time. Despite all of that, he worked his way into becoming a fifth-round pick (146th Overall) by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2016 NFL Draft.
As a way to honor his family, Judon took advantage of the NFL's new jersey number policy, wearing number nine for his nine other siblings.