Matthews played 19 years in the NFL ...most of those in Houston. He played more games as a positional player than anyone in NFL history. Plus, Big Bruce ...who retired in 2001 ....never missed a game because of injury.

After he got the news he told me that although most people would think the highlight of his career was getting to play in the Super Bowl with the Titans he told me, "Really the highlight for me was getting to play against my brother, Clay, all those years. Clay was a pro bowl linebacker for the Browns in his prime ...and he and Bruce went head to head 23 times. 5 years older than Bruce, Clay was Bruce's hero growing up.

I asked him what the worst part of his career was and he said, "Ya know I thought it was going to be moving to Tennessee ..but actually that turned out great for me and my family too. So really there were no negatives in my career.

Bruce says he still has a hard time believing he got paid so much money to play a game. He said," I really never had to grow up playing a boys' game until I was 40."

Bruce was one of the most fun guys to ever cover if you were a reporter. He always had an intelligent comment ...on any subject ... and he always kept his sense of humor intact. Bruce not only played center, guard and tackle during his career under former Oilers head coach Jerry Glanville he also took snaps under center each week. He was in reality at times the OIlers 3rd string quarterback. He says the most scared he ever was during a game was when punter Greg Montgomery tweaked his hamstring in pre-game warmups. Bruce .... who also displayed a strong leg when kicking before and after practice .... was asked to warm up. He says luckily ... Montgomery was able to limp through the game and Matthews didn't have to show everyone in the stadium his punting prowess.

Bruce has always maintained that, "Guys like me ... we're not all that talented .... we're just abnormally large." Sorry Bruce I'm not buying it. Yes you are abnormally large. You even have a large family (7 children). But whether he likes to admit it or not Bruce Matthews was a superb athlete and along with being a great guy. None of the six players elected to the Hall on Saturday are more deserving than Big Bruce.